Architect of Osaic's million dollar rebrand jumps back to LPL

After spending potentially millions of dollars to rebrand the giant broker-dealer network from Advisor Group to Osaic, Jen Roche, Osaic's marketing chief with the title executive vice president, marketing and communications, is heading back to LPL Financial, in what appears to be a lesser role than the one she currently holds at Osaic.

Roche was the architect behind the Osaic name and brand and spent between $7 million and $12 million on relabeling Advisor Group, said one senior industry executive who spoke confidentially to InvestmentNews about the matter. "And that was just on the work itself and didn't include the ad campaign that followed."

"That is about what a basic rebrand for a mid-sized to large campaign costs," said the source. "But is it worth the spending if there are other purposes to fill? At Osaic that would include technology for advisors and recruiting costs for advisors at competitors."

Another well placed industry source said the Advisor Group, Osaic rebrand cost $1 million.

A spokesperson for Osaic on Thursday declined to answer specific questions about Roche, her departure and the expense of Osaic's rebranding work.

Osaic's recruiting of financial advisors this year is raising questions in the wealth management industry. As the giant network merges most firms into Osaic Wealth, gaining traction in hiring new financial advisors appears stalled.

According to a mid-year analysis by analyst Steven Chubak of Wolfe Research, no Osaic branded firm ranks in the top 15 of broker-dealers when counting "net wins" of financial advisors.

Meanwhile, Osaic's direct competitors LPL Financial, Raymond James Financial Inc., Cambridge Investment Research Inc. and Commonwealth Financial Network rank, respectively, first, second, third and fifth in net additions of financial advisors, according to the Wolfe Research tally.

It's not clear why Roche left Osaic, a giant network of broker-dealers that last year began its consolidation of its disparate firms and brands. Owned by Reverence Capital, Osaic has more than 11,000 financial advisors and $635 billion in client assets. Consolidating broker-dealers is one way to reduce overhead and costs, and the wealth management marketplace expects Osaic is headed, eventually, to an initial public offering of its stock.

This month, Roche will return to LPL, where she worked from 2015 to 2020, as senior vice president, corporate communications and public relations, according to an LPL spokesperson. She will report to Christa Carone, chief marketing and communications officer.

Roche did not respond to a message via LinkedIn to comment about her leaving Osaic. After leaving LPL in 2020, Roche worked at AssetMark Financial Holdings Inc. for one year before moving to what was then Advisor Group.

Roche is not the only senior female executive to have recently left Osaic at a time when the brokerage industry is trying to promote diversity and women in management.

Desiree Sii, until recently the CEO and president of Osaic Services Inc., which formerly was known as SagePoint Financial Inc., recently left Osaic and joined AssetMark, the turnkey asset management platform, as vice president, head of strategic accounts.