Osaic is contesting what it calls inaccurate news reports detailing the departure of some AmeriFlex advisors and their assets from Osaic’s platform to Cambridge Investment Research.
Greg Cornick, executive vice president of advice and wealth management, says certain details in some media reports — particularly the amount of brokerage assets at risk for Osaic and the assertion from AmeriFlex executives that a large number of former AmeriFlex advisors staying at Osaic are doing so due to concerns that their clients' assets must remain on-platform.
Much of the $12 billion AmeriFlex asset figure cited by certain publications, Cornick maintains, represents assets that were already held off the Osaic platform by departing AmeriFlex advisors.
“Those characterizations just aren’t accurate, nor is the suggestion that this was somehow a sudden or surprise move,” said the Osaic EVP. “In reality, we’ve been in discussions with AmeriFlex for months, and we’ve known that this was going to be the likely outcome. We’ve had a lot of awareness and dialogue, and this was a mutual decision.”
Cambridge's announcement does not state any specific amount of assets that could move to its platform from Osaic or any other individual platform.
A spokesperson for the AmeriFlex Group offered the following statement via email: “We stand by our announcement that $11.87 billion in assets along with 129 financial advisors are transitioning with us to Cambridge.”
AmeriFlex reported having more than 200 advisors at the start of the year.
Cornick said that Osaic has no absolute requirements around on-platform assets, evidenced by the fact that AmeriFlex held substantial assets and debt with a third-party turnkey asset management platform unaffiliated with Osaic when some of its advisors left for Cambridge.
At the core of the separation, Cornick said, was a disagreement about advisors’ recruiting tactics. “We are delighted that over half of the Ameriflex advisors and associated assets that are strategically aligned with our vision and platform have already chosen to remain with Osaic,” he explained.
"We also continue to invest in our strategically-aligned office of supervisory jurisdiction community, including supporting established protocols of OSJs not proactively recruiting from other OSJs,” the Osaic executive said.
Cornick declined to offer a further explanation of the recruiting practices at issue, but a memo sent to the firm’s advisors after news of AmeriFlex’s departure spread offers some additional detail.
“As you know, one of Osaic’s strategic bedrocks is providing OSJs and your advisors the flexibility to run your businesses in the way that makes the most sense for you, including your platforms of choice,” according to the memo, which was shared with ThinkAdvisor.
“Due in part to ongoing inter-network recruiting violations, this [mutual agreement to end our partnership] was also essential to protect the integrity of our OSJ community and is ultimately a beneficial step forward,” it added.
The memo suggests that over half of AmeriFlex advisors and associated assets are “aligned with [Osaic’s] vision, platform, and protocols, and have chosen to remain.
“We look forward to welcoming others who also choose to continue their affiliation with us,” the memo concludes, noting that Osaic team “wishes AmeriFlex Group and their leadership continued success in the future.”
(Shown in photo: Greg Cornick)
Editor's note: An earlier version of this story misrepresented reporting by AdvisorHub on the Osaic-AmeriFlex split.
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