Jamie Price, the Osaic CEO, recounts his firm's meteoric rise and looks ahead to further expansion in a rapidly changing industry.

What a difference a decade makes.

When Osaic transitioned out of AIG in 2016, the wealth manager serviced approximately $150 billion in assets under administration (AUA) across four separate brands, with just 27 percent of those assets being fee-based. Fast forward to today and Osaic serves approximately $700 billion in AUA under a single unified brand, with fee-based assets approaching 50 percent – and rapidly growing.

That explosive expansion in the past 10 years has vaulted Osaic into one of the nation’s largest wealth management platforms, complete with a multi-affiliation model designed to support independent, entrepreneurial advisors.

Success also came with some challenges that CEO Jamie Price, who has led the company nearly the entire way, continues to navigate – most notably, a massive consolidation effort over the past 18 months with the goal of unifying nine independent entities.

“We knew it was the right strategy for our advisors − creating a unified platform that gives them the resources, support, and flexibility they need to grow faster and support their clients better because they are partnering with us instead of other choices they may have in the marketplace,” says Price. “And frankly,” he adds, “if we’re not helping our advisors to grow, we’re not doing our job.”

WHEN JAMIE PRICE TALKS, PEOPLE LISTEN

Price’s personal wealth management history spans all the way back to EF Hutton, which he contends was truly ahead of its time in the fee-based space, offering financial planning services as early as 1983. During his time there, Price worked directly as an advisor, with more than half of his business in managed accounts. As a result, it never felt to him like a traditional, commission-crazed brokerage.

Later, when he moved to UBS for a spell, Price recounts the focus shifting toward high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients, which, once again, foreshadowed the industry’s overall direction.

As to where wealth management is headed next, Price believes it’s all coming together.

“Looking forward, we know that the wealth business is converging. The transformation is already underway in the broker-dealer space. I believe the next convergence will be in the RIA space, and ultimately scaled independent wealth management firms will emerge,” Price says.

One of the opportunities Price sees in the RIA marketplace is flexibility – especially when it comes to custodial relationships. He considers Osaic’s decision not to be self-clearing a strategic advantage, giving the firm the freedom to work with multiple custodians.

“We bring the legacy, scale, and influence that custodians value in the RIA market. It’s another reason I believe Osaic is positioned to emerge as a leading independent holistic wealth manager across all affiliation models and institutions, including banks and credit unions – measured not by total assets or advisor count but by per-advisor AUM and overall productivity,” Price says, further emphasizing that Osaic is “all-in” on the RIA business.

JAMIE NAMES HIS PRICE

You can’t spell “consolidate” without O-S-A-I-C (go ahead and try it) and, yes, Osaic has been a prime participant in the private equity−led M&A frenzy currently transforming the wealth management space. And Osaic, which was known as Advisor Group until a rebranding in 2023, has its own private-equity backer in corporate parent Reverence Capital Partners.

In fact, it was the pedigree and financial power of Reverence that enabled Osaic to complete its landmark acquisition of Lincoln Financial’s $115 billion wealth management division, Lincoln Wealth, in 2023, along with roughly 1,400 advisors.

But while Osaic is clearly on the lookout for deals, Price maintains that he never builds acquisitions into his five-year plans. The M&A process is selective and must make “strategic sense,” in his opinion.

“While we’ve seen a significant number of opportunities during my time here, and our M&A reputation and expertise has earned us a seat at the table for every major deal within the industry, we’ve only chosen to engage with a select few,” Price says. “When we do engage, we typically secure opportunities because of a good cultural fit, added capabilities, and price.”

And if – and when – Osaic does come into competition with a rival firm over a potential acquisition, Price feels his company’s “flexibility” will win the day, even when up against a competitor with a large advisor headcount or custodial capabilities.

When it comes to flexibility, Price points out that Osaic advisors can choose from 1,099 dual registrant, independent RIA, RIA/fee-only, or W-2 affiliation models, and can adopt structures such as solo practices, ensembles/teams, OSJs, or branch employee roles. Furthermore, the company supports multiple custodians, including NFS, Pershing, Schwab, and Fidelity IWS, and serves all business models – independent, RIA, institutions, and W-2 advisors.

In 2024, Osaic launched an enhanced W-2 platform to drive productivity and efficiency. It offers advisor/client experiences, enterprise-level data capabilities, and plug-and-play innovation. It also leverages AI and automation to reduce administrative burdens and speed up processing times.

“Our commitment to creating and fostering communities for our advisors is truly unique. We create countless opportunities for them to share best practices and learn from each other through national and regional events, councils, and webinars,” Price says.

A CURE FOR ENTREPRENEURIAL ADVISORS

Prior to taking the helm at Osaic, Price took a short career detour away from the financial advisory business to help build the 1-800-Doctors startup. And while he’s now back dealing in dollars instead of doctors, Price views Osaic as having a strong entrepreneurial spirit, despite its towering size and scale.

Actually, upon reflection, he contends he never imagined he’d be able to scale the business to such an extent in barely a decade.

“It’s incredibly exciting to see the caliber of talent we’re now able to attract and retain. Our team is adaptive, collaborative, and aligned around where we’re going. That makes the work truly energizing,” Price says.

On the flip side, he believes the hardest part of steering this burgeoning ship is setting the right priorities for the future and remaining modest, come what may.

“With so much opportunity, the challenge is staying focused on what matters most while remaining agile and responsive to market dynamics,” Price says. “I also believe we need to remain humble and never believe we have it all figured out, particularly when you have had the success we have had.”

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