Securities America says Priority Financial Group (PFG) has joined its hybrid RIA platform from LPL Financial with some $1.35 billion of client brokerage and advisory assets.
The super office of supervisory jurisdiction (OSJ) serves 25 advisors working with 13 credit unions in Texas, Arizona and California.
"We had a specific set of criteria in mind as we looked at potential broker-dealers to partner with," said PFG CEO Mike Prior in a statement. "Securities America didn't just meet those criteria, they also provided an intangible, but crucial, cultural fit."
Securities America's Financial Institutions Division works with over 125 credit unions and banks nationwide, servicing over $4.2 billion in total assets. Overall, the broker-dealer — which is owned by Ladenburg Thalmann — has about 2,200 affiliated advisors.
"PFG is a great fit for us," said Gregg Johnson, Securities America executive vice president of branch office development and acquisitions, in a statement. "They are a progressive group with a great reputation in the financial institutions industry and want to grow with Securities America into the future."
Priority Financial Group is a hybrid RIA and super-OSJ group that specializes in working with both independent financial advisors as well as W-2 employee advisors who work in wealth-management programs for credit unions.
Meanwhile, super-OSJ IHT Wealth Management says 14 advisors with nVision Wealth Group — a midsize, regional super-OSJ and hybrid RIA group based in Kansas — will move their $570 million in fee-based advisor, brokerage and retirement plan assets to IHT's platform. IHT, one of LPL Financial's largest national super-OSJs, works with about $2.4 billion in total client assets.
"We're thrilled to team with all five of nVision's independent financial advisor businesses," said IHT Wealth Management founder and President Steven Dudash, in a statement.
The ongoing flight to quality among independent advisors from smaller broker-dealers to larger firms has been mirrored by a similar trend occurring across the super-OSJ space," Dudash added.
Other Moves
Employee broker-dealer Raymond James & Associates says it recently welcomed William H. Keaton and Alfred Sams, III, CFP, to its offices in Savannah, Sea Island and Macon, Georgia, according to RJA Southern Division Director Dick Ferguson.
In addition to the two principals, the team also includes Senior Financial Planning Consultant Kristen Murphy, CFP; Senior Practice Marketing Associate Carrie Cooper; Senior Registered Client Service Associates Patrick Bindel and Sharon Kitchens; Registered Client Service Associate Anthony Chisolm; and Client Service Associate Melanie Cabiness.
The team operates as Keaton & Sams Wealth Management of Raymond James. It moved to Raymond James from SunTrust Investment Services, where it had managed about $540 million in client assets and had annual revenues of about $4.7 million.
"We wanted a firm that was primarily a wealth-management firm, where its focus was on the well-being of its clients. When we met with Chairman and CEO Paul Reilly and he talked about Raymond James priorities being: clients first, advisors second and shareholders third, it really resonated with us," Keaton said in a statement.
