Revenues at RCS Capital Corp. surged in the fourth quarter and for the full year, driven by sales of non-traded REITs, the company said Wednesday.
 
RCS Capital executives also provided some additional clues as to future plans for the five broker-dealers they’re in the process of acquiring.
 
For the year ended December 31, 2013, revenues jumped 208 percent to a record $886.5 million, driven by a surge in sales of non-traded direct-investment programs that RCS Capital wholesales. Earnings were $2.28 per share for the year, up from $0.28 in 2012.
 
The company raised $8.6 billion of equity capital for direct investment programs last year, up from $2.9 billion in 2012. RCS Capital accounted for more than 41 percent of total equity capital raised in real estate direct investments, the company said.
 
RCS Capital is making a major foray into the retail broker-business, announcing last month that it had agreed to acquire Cetera Financial Holdings and J.P. Turner & Company. Last year, it announced deals to acquire Investors Capital Holdings, Summit Financial Services Group, and First Allied Holdings.
 
The combined firms will be “one of the greatest capital aggregation machines on the planet,” said Nicholas Schorsch, executive chairman of RCS Capital, during a conference call Wednesday.
 
Industry observers have wondered what role Larry Roth would play in the tricky business of integrating such a diverse set of broker-dealers.
 
Roth joined RCS Capital last September to run its wholesale broker-dealer, which sells mostly non-traded REITs. He formerly ran the Advisor Group, the four broker-dealers owned by American International Group.
 
“I’m here to help” with the integration Roth said on the call.
 
Roth and other RCS Capital executives said the company had a deep management team experienced with running and integrating retail brokerage firms.
 
“We have a team in place who knows what needs to be done,” Roth said.
 
The acquired firms clear through Pershing LLC and share many of the same product providers, Roth said.
 
“So some of synergies will simply be to negotiate better pricing” with vendors, a process that is underway, he said.
 
RCS Capital will also be sharing training and educational programs among the broker-dealers it is buying, Roth added.
 
The company’s stock rose more than 2 percent during trading Wednesday.