The AmeriFlex Group, a Las Vegas-based and advisor-owned hybrid registered investment advisory firm, broker/dealer and office of supervisory jurisdiction affiliated with Osaic, ended 2023 more than a third of the way toward its goal of $25 billion in assets by the end of 2025.
After welcoming 60 advisors managing more than $2.75 billion in cumulative assets, TAG closed the year with 153 advisors—nearly half the stated 2025 goal of 315—and more than $9.5 billion in advised assets, representing a 56% increase over last year. Through the second half of the year, the firm added advisors in 15 new states. CEO Tom Goodson said the majority of recruits, most of whom joined as solo practices or in pairs, came to AmeriFlex from 11 brokerage firms, including Principal Securities and Independent Financial Group. The largest firm to join was a team of eight.
Goodson said TAG's model, which introduced its third affiliation channel late last year, attracts a "certain kind of advisor" who may feel neglected at a large broker/dealer.
“They typically feel abandoned,” he said. “They feel like they're on an island. If they're attached to some of these very large broker/dealers, they're one of thousands. They're not getting the attention that they feel they deserve, which we feel they deserve too. So, they join us for community.”
Advisors can affiliate through a standard model under which they retain branding, join TAG’s ADV and affiliate with Osaic for brokerage services. Another option, called SuccessionFlex, gives advisors the option to immediately sell 30% to 40% of their revenue stream at three times earnings under an agreement to sell the remainder to AmeriFlex at a future date.
Almost 10% of TAG advisors are taking advantage of the succession program, Goodson noted, describing it as a “midpoint” in the journey toward retirement.
“Those are folks that are typically one to three years away,” he said. “They’ll join us and then we start engineering that walk across a succession bridge.”
Dubbed The AmeriFlex Group X, the third option is aimed at partnering with smaller OSJs—generally between five and 20 advisors—that are seeking scale, resources, cash or all three. It was initially called the 5Twenty Group.
“I just want to say that we set up X before Elon Musk set up X,” Goodson said, explaining the model lets AmeriFlex to come in as an equity partner or super affiliate and help with everything from supervision compliance to operations, regulatory relationships and growth strategies.
“These OSJs are waking up to the fact that they really don't own anything,” Goodson said. “They've been plugging along with this old infrastructure idea that they have value and the advisors, because of COVID and post-COVID self-reliance, now know they can pull up stakes and move down the street.
“So, we essentially help them cement that relationship with those advisors. It could be through ownership of the RIA, it could be through mentoring, coaching, succession planning and so on. But we try to help that OSJ really get to a point where he or she can realize and possibly monetize the value of their group—and then we'll also be their succession for that OSJ if he or she wants to sell that down the road.”
TAG X is open to all small OSJs, regardless of affiliation, but will only offer ownership in the RIA to groups affiliated with Osaic.
“Our game plan is we can keep efficiency and a nice high payout to the OSJ group if they're with Osaic on the b/d side and with our RIA, because we have the infrastructure to scale up from,” Goodson explained.
All five of the groups that have joined to date currently belong to other large, well-known broker/dealers, he noted.
Early last year, TAG opened a proprietary financial planning service to all affiliates. AmeriFlex Premier+ is backed by teams of planners able to handle a wide variety of client scenarios. Best suited to advisors with clients in the $5 million to $50 million range, the platform provides a sort of outsourced family office for growing advisors who then share a portion of revenue with the regional team, he explained.
The goal is to add 97 new advisors in 2024, and at least 13 are already signed up to join in the first quarter. While advisor movement is at an all-time high and the TAG model is flexible, Goodson suggested the relationship with Osaic and opportunity for ownership in the RIA will serve as “guardrails” against attrition.
The AmeriFlex Group recently updated its stated 2025 goal to reflect that half of the firm’s partner advisors should be women by year-end.
“We’re making a concerted effort to find women advisors who are tech-driven, especially if they're CFPs and planning based,” Goodson said. “Those are the three biggies: 50% women, 315 partner advisors and $25 billion-plus in assets.”