Amid travel and menu planning ahead of Thanksgiving, a handful of deals were announced early this week.
Ameriflex Group and Osaic added two teams, with nearly $500 million in collective assets, that offer insurance services alongside wealth and retirement planning and investment management.
Steward Partners Global Advisory also entered the Georgia market with its latest recruits.
And, in earlier reported news, a former Morgan Stanley team left to launch Stablepoint Partners with Goldman Sachs Advisor Solutions as primary custodian, while healthcare advisory firm Curi purchased a majority stake in RMB Capital, which is being merged with its wealth management business.
AmeriFlex Group Adds 2 Teams, $500M AUM
AmeriFlex Group, a hybrid office of supervisory jurisdiction and registered investment advisory firm affiliated with Osaic, recruited two teams, adding 12 advisors in four states and nearly half a billion in client assets.
Based in Hays, Kan., The Meckenstock Group is a second-generation, family-owned practice led by President and CEO Bobb Meckenstock. Previously affiliated with Independent Financial Group, the team includes 10 advisors—seven in Kansas, two in California and one in Nebraska. Together, they bring more than $290 million in client assets to AmeriFlex.
"Changing firms is never an easy decision, but after meeting with Osaic and The AmeriFlex Group, seeing their vision for the future and the extraordinary service and support they provide advisors and clients, we knew we found our new home,” Meckenstock said in a statement, citing the firms’ technology, succession and acquisition solutions.
In California and Tennessee, a duo with $206 million in client assets also joined AmeriFlex from Principal Securities.
With expertise in active investment management and tax efficient strategies, Jeffrey McNaney, in Roseville, Calif., and Lucas Dancy-Cabeal, in Mount Joliet, Tenn., provide wealth and asset management, retirement planning and insurance services for business owners and wealthy professionals.
"Osaic and AmeriFlex will provide us with the freedom, flexibility and value-added resources we need to take our practices to the next level," said Dancy-Cabeal. "Jeff and I were impressed by their broad range of products and services they offer.”
“They built impressive multi-state businesses by putting the needs of their clients first, AmeriFlex CEO Tom Goodson said of the two firms. "Each is a perfect cultural fit and runs the type of business we aspire to attract to The AmeriFlex Group.”
Based in Las Vegas, AmeriFlex now comprises close to 100 advisors with more than $3.5 billion in managed assets.
Formerly Advisor Group, Osaic has now merged about half of its affiliated advisors into the new, unified brand—including those with Royal Alliance, SagePoint Financial and FSC Securities—and is bringing new recruits directly onto the integrated Osaic platform. After announcing the reorganization effort—which created three business channels focused on independent brokerage services, institutions and RIAs—Osaic reported that recruited assets increased by 240% in the third quarter over the same time last year.
Founded in 2016 and majority owned by Reverence Capital Partners since 2019, Osaic comprises more than 11,000 advisors and more than $500 billion in advised assets.
Miller Family Wealth Management Joins Steward Partners
A Wells Fargo breakaway duo in Georgia has formed an independent practice under Steward Partners Global Advisory, a hybrid RIA based in New York City.
Miller Family Wealth Management at Steward Partners includes Managing Director Charles Miller and Vice President Simone Jones, both advisors who are now also partners in the larger Steward enterprise. Managing around $275 million in assets from offices in Dalton and Kennesaw, the team represents Steward’s first partner firm in the Peach State.
“I wanted a partner who could supply the infrastructure, technology, and logistical support needed to best serve my clients. Steward Partners was the only firm that had everything I wanted, and more," Miller said in a statement. "I love that, with Steward Partners, the other advisors are peers and partners, not my competition. This move gives me the opportunity to build a lasting business which my young son will eventually be able to join with me."
Miller began his career as a relationship manager, working for firms such as Smith Barney and Morgan Stanley before joining Wells Fargo in 2017. His practice is focused on serving wealthy individuals and families, some living in Europe and South Africa, as well as business owners seeking a liquidity event.
"We are always excited to expand the Steward Partners footprint into a new state, but we are even more so to have Chuck as our first partner in the state of Georgia," said Steward Managing Director Jeffrey Gonyo, senior president of the firm’s Southeast division. "By joining Steward Partners, Chuck owns his business and can run it in the way that is best for his clients knowing that he is backed up by the resources of our entire network."
Founded in 2013, Steward has grown assets from $50 million to around $28 billion, primarily through the recruitment of bank and wirehouse breakaways. Earlier this month, the firm announced it was getting into the mergers and acquisitions game with the launch of a new ‘owned business’ division.