USAdvisors Network joins Securities America

Independent broker-dealer Securities America Inc. has announced that USAdvisors Network LLC of Eden Prairie, Minn., has signed an agreement for its more than 60 advisers and affiliated financial institutions to join the Omaha, Neb.-based firm. With the integration, Securities America will now serve more than 100 financial institutions, the firm reported in a statement. Its advisory firm, Securities America Advisors Inc., has more than $11.2 billion in assets under management and administration. USAdvisors' reps are the latest to be added by Securities America, according to Gregg Johnson, senior vice president and director of branch development. The firm now has more 1,900 advisers, he added. Mr. Johnson would not specify how many advisers Securities America has added this year. But he did say that the number of new recruits the firm has brought on in the first half of 2009 is a 56% increase over the number of advisers it recruited in the first six months of 2008. “We have seen a number of financial institutions say that they want to deal with a smaller group where they could get a more personalized touch,” said Mr. Johnson.