Phila adviser adds $millions for M&A

Lincoln Investment Planning Inc., a Wyncote-based broker-dealer that claims $9 billion in managed assets and a total of $24 billion in advisory and managed funds, says that investor Lovell Minnick Partners, which has offices in Radnor and in El Segundo, Calif., has bought a 20% stake. With Lovell Minnick's backing, "we're large enough now that we can buy larger practices," Ed Forst, Lincoln's President and CEO, told me. 

"We have a very strong balance sheet; we have no need for an investment of this kind. But we need to accelerate: There is going to be way more opportunities to do more transactions" buying other advisory firms, as regulatory and tech and security costs rise, Forst added. "Those who can move quickly will do much better than those not capable of moving quickly," he said. "So many people need advice to save for retiirement, for college, for financial security. There aren't enough professionals providing it. That's what we do."

Lincoln, which has 300 staff supporting a network of 800 financial advisors in 35 states, wouldn't say how much Lovell Minnick invested. Lovell Minnick says it invests at least $20 million in each of its target financial-services companies. It's an investor in TriState Capital Bank, a business lender with offices in Pittsburgh, Villanova and Lawrenceville, along with other lenders and broker-dealers.

Forst will remain Lincoln Investment's President and Chief Executive Officer. Lincoln's past acquisitions of Great American Advisors (310 advisors, 2010) and of Capital Analysts Inc. (2120, 2012) show the firm can handle "meaningful and consistent growth in their adviser network," Lovell Minnick President and Managing Partner Jim Minnick said in a statement.

The deal should close this fall.