RCS to Buy Investors Cap; Advisor Group Names New CEO

New Leader Tapped

Advisor Group just named Erica McGinnis as its new president and CEO. McGinnis, who most recently was the group's senior vice president and chief compliance officer, replaces interim Advisor Group head Peter Harbeck, who was tapped to lead the firm in early September after Roth departed.

"I have enormous respect for Larry Roth," said McGinnis in an interview. "He opened doors for me and encouraged me to walk through them, so I owe him a lot." McGinnis says that she will not try to fill his shoes. "We have different skills, and I would love to put some of my focus on the Advisor Group staff of 800 across the firm," she said. "The core of our business is about serving advisors and taking care of these employees, too, since they deliver the great services to our network."

Advisor Group includes more than 6,000 independent reps, who are affiliated with FSC Securities Corp., Royal Alliance Associates, SagePoint Financial and the recently acquired Woodbury Financial. "We are making the transition smooth for Woodbury," McGinnis said. "As other [broker-dealer networks] have streamlined their operations, we have very much done so as well with our back office. That's allowed us to really go into a growth mode."

McGinnis joined the network of IBDs in 2004 as director of branch exams, based in Phoenix. She previously managed operations, training and compliance efforts for Charles Schwab, Wells Fargo and Ameriprise Financial.