Osaic seals deal for Lincoln’s wealth advisor business

Osaic is now officially an even larger force to be reckoned with.

The firm announced that it has completed its deal to acquire Lincoln’s wealth business, which includes Lincoln Financial Advisors Corporation and Lincoln Financial Securities Corporation from Lincoln National Corporation.

The deal adds significant scale to Osaic as it takes in roughly 1,400 advisors overseeing $115 billion in assets, which is more than the initial $108 billion AUM estimated when the transaction was first announced in December.

While those numbers are inherently staggering, Jamie Price, president and CEO of Osaic, emphasized that the strategic value of the move isn’t just about mustering strength in numbers.

"The addition of the Lincoln Wealth team expands the Osaic national network of seasoned and specialized financial professionals,” Price said in a statement. “They are highly regarded as some of the most holistic planning-focused professionals in the wealth management industry."

The sale of Lincoln’s wealth business to Osaic comes after a long-running partnership between the two firms that extends back for more than a decade.

With the deal officially sealed, both Lincoln Financial Advisors and Lincoln Financial Securities will initially operate as stand-alone entities before fully transitioning into Osaic during the company's consolidation process in the upcoming months.

"Lincoln Wealth has a long history of helping advisors build thriving practices,” said Greg Cornick, president of advice and wealth management at Osaic. “We are thrilled to welcome the leadership team, employees and advisors into our network and deliver more of the tools they need to create a best-in-class client experience."

For its part, Lincoln said it walked away from the exchange with $650 million in capital benefit, which it will use primarily to enhance its risk-based capital ratio and partially decrease its leverage ratio.

"Lincoln is focused on continuing to execute on our enterprise strategic pillars, leverage our core strengths to grow our individual insurance solutions and workplace solutions businesses, and deliver long-term value for all of our stakeholders," Ellen Cooper, chairman, president, and CEO of Lincoln Financial Group, said in a separate statement.

Lincoln is keeping its wholesale distribution franchise, Lincoln Financial Distributors, which the firm says has been an engine of organic growth across its different retail product lines. The firm said it’s retaining it independent agent channel, which has become part of LFD.

As part of the transaction, LFD will bolster its existing distribution relationship with Osaic’s advisor network, including both those coming in from Lincoln and others under Osaic’s broader umbrella of financial professionals.

“We look forward to our long-term strategic partnership with Osaic as we continue to provide financial professionals with products and solutions that will help them best serve their clients,” Cooper said.