Erica McGinnis, who has led the Advisor Group for the past three years, is stepping down from the post. Executive Chairwoman Valerie Brown temporarily replace her as president and CEO, and Brown and McGinnis will work together as the Advisor Group moves from being a part of insurance giant AIG to being owned by the private-equity firm Lightyear Capital.
"Erica McGinnis has accepted a role of executive vice president, head of transitions – leading the separation from AIG," said spokesman Kevin Dinino, in a statement. "A search is underway for a new president and CEO … As president and CEO, Erica has contributed immeasurably to Advisor Group, and on behalf of the board and management team we sincerely thank her for her tireless efforts toward building the business that we have today."
The Advisor Group includes some 6,000 independent advisors affiliated with FSC Securities Corp., Royal Alliance Associates, SagePoint Financial and Woodbury Financial. These broker-dealers are led by Jerry Murphy, Dmitry Goldin, Jeff Auld and Rick Fergesen, respectively.
McGinnis was tapped to lead the firm in September 2013 after then-CEO and President Larry Roth left the firm to become CEO of Realty Capital Securities, the former entity that owned Cetera Financial Group; RCS went through bankruptcy and became Aretec; Roth now heads Cetera.
Lightyear and its affiliates sold Cetera to RCS Capital several years ago for more than $1 billion.
Recruiter Jon Henschen says he is unsure of why McGinnis decided to leave her executive role. "Those in upper management step down to spend more time with family or if after being asked to do so due to a clash with others or even competency issues," he explained in an interview with ThinkAdvisor.
