Osaic finalized its acquisition of the $115 billion Lincoln Financial wealth business this week, several months after the deal was announced.
Osaic, the network of broker/dealers formerly known as Advisor Group, purchased Lincoln’s two wealth management firms, Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp. and Lincoln Financial Securities Corp., as a part of the deal. More than 1,400 advisors will be onboarded.
In a statement, Osaic President and CEO Jamie Price said the firm was “honored” the Lincoln team opted for Osaic.
“The addition of the Lincoln Wealth team expands the Osaic national network of seasoned and specialized financial professionals,” he said. “They are highly regarded as some of the most holistic planning-focused professionals in the wealth management industry.”
Osaic, which boasts about $71 billion in assets under advisement and $38 billion in managed assets, purchased Lincoln National’s wealth business for $700 million last December.
Both firms will begin as stand-alone entities with their leadership intact. But the businesses will “fully convert” to Osaic in the next several months, with no repapering required or changes to account numbers, according to the firm.
Though S&P estimated Osaic would pay about $1.04 billion to fully consolidate Lincoln’s wealth business (including transaction costs and advisors’ retention loans), it didn’t expect the deal to damage Osaic’s debt ratio.
Moody’s Investors Services and Fitch Ratings concurred in their own assessments last February, saying they expected the firm’s credit to remain stable. Moody’s placed Osaic’s ratings on review for 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 its rebranding along with a plan to roll the eight Advisor Group 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 to 24 months.
Royal Alliance, SagePoint, Woodbury and FSC have all been 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 changing b/ds. Late last month, the Strategic Wealth Partners team, led by owner Ryan Rayburn, in Minden, La., announced it was leaving Lincoln for LPL Financial ahead of the Osaic deal closing. Although he'd been at Lincoln for nine years, Rayburn said he started looking for a new broker/dealer when the Osaic-Lincoln deal was announced.