Osaic finalized its $115 billion acquisition of Lincoln Financial's wealth business this week, months after the deal was announced.
Osaic, the broker/dealer network formerly known as Advisor Group, acquired Lincoln's two wealth management firms, Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp. and Lincoln Financial Securities Corp., as part of the deal. More than 1,400 advisers will be on board.
In a statement, Osaic president and CEO Jamie Price said the firm was “honored” that the Lincoln team chose Osaic.
“The addition of the Lincoln Wealth team expands Osaic's national network of experienced and specialized financial professionals,” he said. “They are highly regarded as some of the most planning-focused professionals in the wealth management industry.”
Osaic, which boasts about $71 billion in assets under advisement and $38 billion in assets under management, bought Lincoln National's wealth business for $700 million last December.
Both firms will start as independent entities with their leadership intact. But businesses will be “fully converted” to Osaic in the coming months, with no repairs or changes to account numbers required, according to the firm.
although S&P estimated Osaic would pay about $1.04 billion to fully consolidate Lincoln's wealth business (including transaction costs and adviser retention loans), it did not expect the deal to hurt Osaic's debt ratio.
Moody's Investors Services and Fitch Ratings agreed in their assessments last February, saying they expected the firm's credit to remain stable. Moody's put Osaic's ratings on downgrade last December based on concerns about how the Lincoln acquisition would affect the firm's financial profile and debt issuance.
Last year, Osaic announced her reappointment along with a plan to bring the Advisor Group's eight broker/dealers under one entity, including American Portfolios, FSC Securities, Infinex Investments, Royal Alliance Associates, SagePoint Financial, Securities America, Triad Advisors and Woodbury Financial Services, with 18 up to 24 months.
Royal Alliance, SagePoint, Woodbury and FSC have all converted, while Infinex is now Osaic Institutions, according to an Osaic spokesperson.
A number of advisory teams have left Osaic this year, citing the Lincoln acquisition and consolidation as reasons for the eb/ds change. At the end of last month, the Strategic Wealth Partners team, led by owner Ryan Rayburn, in Minden, La., announced that he was leaving Lincoln for LPL Financial before closing the Osaic deal. Although he had been at Lincoln for nine years, Rayburn said he began looking for a new broker/dealer when the Osaic-Lincoln deal was announced.