Osaic is expanding succession planning assistance in its W-2 model with a majority-stake investment in Innovative Wealth Team, a Nashville, Tenn.-based advisory group with $700 million in managed assets specializing in continuity planning for its affiliated advisors.
According to Osaic, the move brings the firm’s advisors a “turnkey succession and continuity partner.” Osaic CEO Jamie Price said the partnership would help the firm offer “flexible, scalable solutions for advisors at every stage of their journey.”
The Innovative team is joining Osaic’s W-2 model, launched in 2023 under the leadership of former President of RIA Solutions Ed Swenson (who recently departed the firm).
“The Innovative Wealth Team enhances our supported independence model, helping advisors operate more efficiently, access capital and eventually transition their practices smoothly,” Price said.
According to Cindy Hamel, an Osaic executive vice president and head of the Advisors Channel, Innovative’s “seamless succession solution” will work for “advisors looking to exit the industry and monetize their practices,” and will be available to advisors whether they’re affiliated with Osaic or not.
Brian Heapps founded Innovative Wealth in 2017. According to FINRA records, Heapps joined the industry in 1987 with John Hancock, eventually joining Signator Investors for more than two decades before registering with Osaic (formerly Advisor Group) in 2018; the new deal brings the Innovative team into the Osaic fold as W-2 employees.
According to a 2024 WealthManagement.com interview with Swenson, the program allows Osaic to purchase advisors’ books of business on its platform so they can operate in a W-2 capacity, not as 1099s. According to Swenson, the benefit for Osaic was that it could purchase the business from advisors contemplating retirement with “very little friction.”
“You don’t have to repaper your accounts; you don’t have to go to another firm; you don’t have to disrupt your client relationships,” he said. “We’re happy to have that advisor stick around for three to five years. But it gives them certainty on what their final succession plan will be, and it allows us to keep those assets on-platform.”
Osaic acquired the $360 million AUM firm Payant Wealth Management Group into its employee affiliation model in March. In a statement, founder Tom Payant said that affiliating with Osaic’s W-2 channel “has given me the peace of mind that my wife, my colleagues and our clients will be set up for success.”
Last month, Osaic agreed to acquire the $13.5 billion fee-only RIA CW Advisors from private equity owner Audax Private Equity. CW Advisors will continue to operate under its existing brand and management team, but its 140 employees will all work on the Osaic platform.
As a part of the deal, Audax will own a stake in Osaic, though the deal’s terms weren’t disclosed (private equity firm Reverence Capital Partners is Osaic’s majority owner).
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