Atria Wealth Solutions announced plans Wednesday to acquire Fresno, Calif.–based independent broker/dealer and registered investment advisor SCF Securities, which has $4 billion in assets under administration and about 150 financial advisors. This is the sixth broker/dealer Atria has acquired since it launched in 2017 and will bring its total advisor head count to over 2,500 with nearly $95 billion in assets under administration.
Other firms in Atria’s network include Western International Securities, NEXT Financial Group, Cadaret Grant, CUSO Financial Services and Sorrento Pacific Financial.
“SCF is a growth-oriented firm with a very strong advisory business and is well-known for providing exceptional, personalized service,” said Doug Ketterer, CEO and founding partner of Atria, in a statement. “SCF’s focus on meeting the growing expectations of financial professionals and their clients completely aligns with our vision for reinventing the advisor experience and providing solutions that enhance the advisor and client relationship.”
The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2021.
Atria Wealth Solutions, backed by private equity shop Lee Equity Partners, has been trying to build a new kind of independent broker/dealer model, not on indiscriminate acquisitions of existing registrations, but by carefully building a layer of support for independent advisors.
The firm’s strategy has been to do business in multiple advisor channels. Atria says its purchase of SCF grows its fee-based assets, furthers its multicustodial approach and expands its national footprint.
Ketterer was named one of WealthManagement.com′s Ten to Watch in 2018.