Royal Alliance Snags Two Firms, $400 Million in AUM

One of the country’s largest broker-dealers just brought in $400 million in new client AUM.

Royal Alliance, the No. 10 firm on last year’s FP50 list of the country’s largest independent broker-dealers, is adding wealth management firm JLTD Advisors of Chicago and Integrated Financial Group of Salt Lake City to its hybrid platform. Annual gross dealer concession revenues for both firms come to $3.5 million a year, according to a Royal statement.

HYBRID APPEALS

“While our recruits continue to notice our open architecture platform and leading technology, ... we are seeing fee-based advisors come on board for our hybrid solution,” Kevin Beard, senior VP of recruiting for Royal, said in the same statement.

JLTD, with $100 million in AUM, had actually dropped its B-D affiliation and registration in 2011, according to Royal. After operating as a stand-alone RIA for a year and a half, managing partners Tim McGrath and Horace Seely-Brown decided to move to a hybrid platform -- an increasingly popular choice for advisors industrywide -- in order to better grow their business, the statement said.

TRANSITION SUPPORT

The balance of the new AUM comes from Integrated Financial Group, which includes five financial advisors -- Sam Clark, James Davenport, Les Barber, Steve Fulmer and Casey Kotter -- and eight staff members, according to Royal.

The firm, which focuses primarily on younger clients, cited the high-level of transition support services as a factor in its decision, the statement said.

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