INVEST buys PFIC Securities contracts

INVEST Financial Corp. of Tampa, Fla., this morning said it has acquired the contracts of nearly 400 bank-based registered representatives of PFIC Securities Corp. of Franklin, Tenn., a subsidiary of Morgan Keegan & Co. Inc. of Memphis. The PFIC affiliated reps, who manage more than $3 billion in assets for more than 40,000 clients, will now operate under the INVEST brand. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. "We are very excited about the opportunity to expand our presence in the bank channel through the acquisition of PFIC's book of business," said INVEST president and chief executive, Lynn Niedermeier, in a statement. Before the acquisition, INVEST, one of the broker-dealers in the National Planning Holdings Inc. network, had 629 affiliated reps and advisers. It generated $129.7 million in gross revenue in 2006, according to the firm.