Kestra Financial,\ Inc., the Austin, Texas-based corporate registered investment advisor, said Tuesday that it has added Alpha Wealth Advisors LLC of Glen Allen, Va., to its platform.
“We’ve had a lot of activity this year, and I feel like we’ll have a stronger second half than we had in the first half,” Dan Schwamb, EVP of Business Development for Kestra, told WealthManagement.com in an interview Tuesday. He added that 24 wealth management firms have affiliated with Kestra in the first half.
He also went into depth about the company’s recruiting strategy. “We go out and meet with firms that are more successful, with average production between fees and commissions of $500,000 on an annual basis and typically around $70 million to $80 million in AUM,” he said.
Schwamb said that Kestra’s “economic alignment” with its strategic partners “provides them with a very competitive, high payout for the revenue they generate of 90+ percent, where we keep a small percentage of the fees and commissions they generate.”
While Kestra has a “very robust succession solution, that is not necessarily what we are looking for.” Kestra, he said, also recruits firms “that are experiencing pain or discomfort around their current relationship and are looking to escape that.” Kestra brings in “advisors from a captive situation or employee model, for example a wirehouse or an insurance company, and advisors from large or small independents.”
Kestra’s value add is severalfold. For one, because the company is a broker/dealer, its RIAs can offer commissionable products through the b/d such as variable annuities, Schwamb said.
In addition, Kestra helps its partners in the day-to-day servicing of clients and helps them find “the right investment solutions” through an “industry-leading tech solution” called AdvisorComplete. The company also offers its partners help with appropriate staffing, among other things.
Kestra has 1,800 advisors on the RIA side of the business.
Alpha, which is led by managing partner Troy Flinn and investment management director Mary Margaret Kastelberg, was founded in 2012.
Alpha came over from Cambridge Investment Group Inc. of Fairfield, Iowa.