It survived the worst of the credit crisis as AIG Advisor Group. When it was spun off from American International Group Inc. in 2016 to a private equity group, Lightyear Capital, it became just Advisor Group.
Currently under the control of another private equity group, Reverence Capital, the giant network of 11,000 brokers and financial advisors, with $500 billion in client assets and eight distinct firms, is now operating under one brand and service platform: Osaic.
That process of rolling eight firms into one will take up to two years. In April, InvestmentNews was first to report Advisor Group's intention to rebrand and consolidate its broker-dealers.
The company announced its new name on a live-streamed web event Wednesday.
“We developed the Osaic brand as a reflection of who we are and most importantly who we want to be, and as a promise for the advisors we serve and will serve in the future," CEO Jamie Price said during the web announcement. "A brand is just not just one thing, it’s actually everything. And this brand represents our commitment to all the financial professionals we work with today, and will work with in the future."
"As we went through the brand and naming process, we decided early on to go with a brand that could be uniquely ours, a name that wasn’t a recognized word or combination of words because we wanted something that again was ours," Price said. "This brand pulls together our heritage, our history, our scale, our multiple capabilities and diversity of thought and background into one beautiful picture. It’s the perfect confluence of everything we are today and who we want to be in the future."
Osaic, the former Advisor Group, is a sprawling network of broker-dealers that will be consolidating, at times a difficult process for financial advisors and back-office workers. The process of rolling eight firms into one will take up to two years.
Starting this fall, each of the wealth management firms previously under Advisor Group will transition into Osaic, the company said in its announcement. The firm is shooting for a smooth transition of advisors' businesses, without the need for repapering accounts.
The network acquired American Portfolios Financial Services Inc. and Infinex Investments Inc. last year.
The other six firms are: FSC Securities Corp., Royal Alliance Associates Inc., SagePoint Financial Inc., Securities America Inc., Triad Advisors and Woodbury Financial Services Inc.
The firm has large operational hubs in Omaha, Nebraska, the home of Securities America, and Phoenix, where SagePoint is based.
Chicago-based Mesirow Fiduciary Solutions adds flexPATH's plan-level outsourced fiduciary book, boosting its retirement market reach to $164 billion.
Also, Raymond James's employee advisor channel adds breakaways from Wells Fargo and Stifel, while UBS welcomes an ex-Morgan Stanley duo in Indiana.
It promised guaranteed principal and 10% monthly returns. The SEC says it invested nothing.
Ten years after entering the fee-based annuity market, MassMutual Ascend says nearly half its lifetime sales came in the past two years alone – but barriers remain among fee-only advisors.
Amplify, WealthReach, Zeplyn and Zocks have unveiled partnerships aimed at automating portfolio management, content creation, account opening, and client communication.
Northern Trust’s Ken Lassner shows advisors how to convert volatility into after-tax portfolio gains
Dan Biagini of American Equity says the steady decline of pensions, longer lifespans and a reset in interest rates are rewriting how advisors build retirement income
