Stratos Wealth Network is continuing its rapid growth pattern with the addition of four firms with $1 billion in AUM to its platform, Stratos announced Thursday.
The move is part of a plan to bring the firm to $20 billion in client assets by 2021. The growth will be attained through acquisitions by Stratos, a super OSJ and hybrid RIA based in Beachwood, Ohio, affiliated with LPL, and through acquisitions by its partner firms, said Jeff Concepcion, founder and CEO of Stratos.
The family of companies that are part of Stratos Wealth Holdings now has assets under administration totaling $7.7 billion, plus an additional $5.6 billion in brokerage assets with LPL Financial. Stratos now has a 60-person home office support staff, 87 offices nationwide and 284 financial advisors throughout the country.
The firms affiliating with Stratos are Clapboard Hill Private Wealth, led by Thomas Pacilio and Daniel Besse, with $230 million in client assets, based in Westport, Conn.; an independent firm led by Michael Feller, formerly with Merrill Lynch, with $170 million in client assets, based in Boonville, Ind. that will operate under Stratos Welalth Advisors name; Generations Investment Management, led by Jason Hostetler and Tina Migge, with $150 million in client assets, based in Canton, Ohio, and Riverview Wealth Partners, led by Anthony Pratt and William Baker, with $450 million in client assets, based in Wexford, Pa. The firms will continue to operate independently and will affiliate with Stratos.
Stratos offers advisors support for transition solutions, marketing, technology, compliance and succession planning resources. Additionally, Fundamentum, the firm’s asset management arm, offers Stratos-affiliated advisors more than 25 portfolio strategies, ranging from individual equities-focused approaches to exchange-traded funds.
As part of the firm’s growth plans, Fidelity veteran Lou Camacho has been named president of Stratos Wealth Alliance. He will be in charge of the overall growth strategy of Stratos.
“Since our founding in 2009, we’ve generated a 43 percent compound annual growth rate in total AUA and a 47 percent compound annual growth in revenue. That result has been acquired through substantial organic growth of our existing partners, in conjunction with a successful recruiting effort that seeks to add one new city to the network each month,” said Concepcion.
In addition to the latest recruits, Stratos recently finalized the acquisition of Heald Financial Advisors, located in Marlton, N.J., with $120 million in client assets.
“There is a lot of movement in the marketplace by firms from wirehouses and banks that want to be independent, and by firms that are independent but want more support,” Concepcion said. Stratos is looking at firms in the $100 million to $250 million AUM range.
“As the industry grows more complex, advisors are looking support for human resources, technology and regulatory compliance,” he said.
“You also have to look at the demographics of the industry. The advisor population is aging and they are looking at their firms as an asset,” Camacho said.