Later this year, Advisor Group will announce a new name and brand for the unified firm that is being reimagined to reflect the history and traditions of Advisor Group and pave the way for a bold new future for the firm. The firm has engaged Sullivan NYC, a New York-based branding agency that works with some of the world’s leading brands in financial services and technology, to help guide this branding and positioning effort. Each of the eight wealth management firms in the Advisor Group network will roll into the new brand, one at a time, over the next 18 to 24 months.
“Combining our multiple firms under a single brand will allow us to better serve our financial professionals by offering them access to the full breadth of community and expertise our scale provides without the complexities that multiple legal entities can impose” said Jamie Price, President & CEO Advisor Group. “Our current business model has been successful to date, but as the industry landscape continues to evolve, simultaneously maintaining a series of divergent brands no longer supports a best-in-class experience for our financial professionals or their clients.”
The firm continues to simplify its business structure through uniform and consistent policies, procedures, and technology solutions, in addition to expanding its value-add solutions and offerings.
“For financial professionals in the Advisor Group network, this is going to significantly elevate our experience with the firm,” said Debra Brennan-Tagg, President BFS Advisory Group and Chair of the National Advisory Board for Advisor Group. “Having the firm singularly focused on our growth and our experience will allow us to partner more easily with them to realize and leverage all of the benefits Advisor Group has the potential to provide.”
Over the past several years, Advisor Group has grown to serve more than 11,000 independent financial professionals across eight separate firms – American Portfolios, FSC Securities, Infinex Investments, Royal Alliance Associates, SagePoint Financial, Securities America, Triad Advisors, and Woodbury Financial Services.
A well-crafted plan has been implemented to ensure a smooth transition of financial professionals’ businesses, with an emphasis on eliminating the need for repapering accounts and maintaining relationships and communities that have been cultivated over time.
“This is not a repapering event. Because the firms are already part of Advisor Group, we can significantly simplify the financial professional and client transitions by eliminating the complexities that occur in a normal transition,” said Mr. Price. “Moving into one firm is about making it easier for our financial professionals to conduct business and giving them more value through their connection to each other and to our home office. Our goal is to facilitate the most seamless transition possible that will ultimately benefit their businesses.”
For accounts held with the firms including brokerage, direct choice, Wealth Management Platform, and direct business, clients will not need to sign any new paperwork and their account numbers will not change. Accounts held away with some third-party money managers, including TAMPS, will need to follow the procedures of the third parties to transfer, however, Advisor Group is leveraging its partnership with those parties to work toward a seamless transition.
The firm’s decision to simplify its business structure and operate under one brand closely follows its organizational realignment, completed in the first quarter of this year, into three channels that each serve a specific business model for financial advisors.
“Financial professionals across our Independent, RIA Solutions and Institutions channels have different needs, and our new structure will allow us to most effectively serve each of them, and to grow our affiliation models over time,” said Greg Cornick President, Advice and Wealth Management, Advisor Group. “Our new structure will enable us to invest more into resources and technologies that provide financial professionals with a truly personalized and differentiated experience. This move reflects our commitment to provide solutions for our financial professionals that are tailored to who they are, and the way they do business.”
Advisor Group also reported that further details about its new brand will be announced in May at its upcoming NXT Conference, a future-focused, three-day conference designed for forward-thinking financial professionals. The May 23-25 event in Louisville, Kentucky is open to credentialed media, and more information on the conference can be found here.
