Kestra Financial, the independent broker/dealer subsidiary of Kestra Holdings, has recruited a Boca Raton, Fla.-based team managing $1.4 billion in client assets. Wealth Empowerment Financial Strategies joins from B. Riley Wealth Management.
In September, Reuters reported that B. Riley was in talks to sell its beleaguered wealth management unit to Stifel Financial, citing a source familiar with the deal talks.
The Wealth Empowerment team is led by Senior Managing Director and founder Eric Lyon and Senior Managing Director Tom Holly. Previously, Lyon and Holly spent 18 years with National Securities, a Boca Raton-based broker/dealer acquired by B. Riley in 2021. Prior to that, they were with Summit Brokerage.
"After a long process of interviews and due diligence, the decision to move forward with Kestra Financial was a natural one,” said Lyon. “We were impressed with everything Kestra Financial had to offer—from its executive management team and technology platform to its back-office tech and resources—and knew this would help the growth of our firm down the line.”
Lyon and Holly are joined by a team of 29 advisors and staff members. The firm was founded in 2006, and it specializes in estate planning, 401(k) offerings and cash balance strategies.
Kestra Holdings recently recapitalized, with private equity firm Stone Point Capital returning to take a majority stake in the company. As a result, private equity firm Warburg Pincus exited its majority investment, which it made at the beginning of 2019. Oak Hill Capital, another private equity firm, will retain its minority stake.
Founded in 1997, Kestra Holdings, which includes a trust company, RIAs, broker/dealers and investment firms, currently oversees $117 billion in assets under administration through 1,700 financial professionals.
