B-D giant Osaic reorganizes management team

After Jen Roche, the architect of last year's rebranding of the giant broker-dealer network Osaic, bolted this month to rival LPL Financial, more changes are coming for the company's senior management team who report to CEO Jamie Price.

The moves, which will be announced externally next month, boost the authority of Tim Hodge and Dimple Shah in Osaic's management structure, according to an internal memo from Price last week. Greg Cornick will continue to lead the core advice and wealth management group at Osaic, which is owned by private equity manager Reverence Capital.

All three, like Roche, formerly worked at LPL Financial, the leading independent broker-dealer in terms of assets and number of financial advisors. The three will continue to report directly to Price.

Hodge is expanding his role to focus on service, operations, and technology capabilities for advisors, while Shah is widening her role to focus on advisor growth solutions, bringing products and platforms closer in line to those goals.

The changes at Osaic, with more than 11,000 financial advisors and $635 billion in client assets, come one-year into the company's "power of one" initiative, which saw disparate broker-dealers rebrand and merge operations under the Osaic umbrella.

Shah is taking on a more significant role with her focus on organic growth at the network, which Cornick had focused on in the past, noted one industry executive, who spoke anonymously to InvestmentNews about the matter.

Along with its rebranding from Advisor Group, Osaic has been busy completing its most recent merger.

This May, Osaic closed its acquisition of the wealth management business of insurance company Lincoln National Corp.. Osaic paid Lincoln National $700 million in return for 1,450 financial advisors who oversee roughly $108 billion in assets.

Osaic this summer has watched some significant groups of financial advisors from the recent acquisition of Lincoln's wealth business jump recently to the competition. Just last week, LPL Financial said it had recruited more than 30 financial advisors from two firms that together managed approximately $4 billion in client assets. Both were former Lincoln Financial firms.

An Osaic spokesperson declined to respond to a question about Lincoln Financial advisors leaving Osaic.

Meanwhile, Hodge's group is now called operations and technology solutions.

Cindy Hamel, executive vice president, business transformation, and her team, as well as Ed Obuchowski, executive vice president, enterprise technology solutions and chief technology officer, and his team, will join that group and report to Hodge.

Hamel will continue to lead Osaic's mergers and acquisitions activities including the network's expansion into registered investment advisor and employee broker channels and will work directly with Ed Swenson and Price.

Shah's group will be called advisor growth and platform solutions, and Matt Schlueter, executive vice president, products and platforms, and his team, will join report to her.

Phil Blancato, chief market strategist, Osaic, and president, Ladenburg Thalmann Asset Management, and his organization, will transition to Cornick's team. Blancato will join Cornick's leadership team and report directly to him.

Also reporting to Price will be Jon Frojen, Jeffrey Green, Amy Hamilton, Nina McKenna, and Ed Swenson representing the wealth business. In addition, co-heads of the investment bank, Ladenburg Thalmann and Co., Mike Gideon and Barry Steiner, and special advisor/vice-chairman, Lon Dolber, will continue reporting to Price as well.