Osaic’s Head of Operations and Technology Tim Hodge Departs

Tim Hodge, an executive vice president of operations and technology solutions at Osaic, has left the company. Hodge is no longer listed on Osaic’s executive page, and his BrokerCheck profile indicates he’s no longer registered with the firm as of Feb. 20.

Matt Schlueter, an executive vice president of products and platform, has taken Hodge’s title, according to Osaic’s website. Prior to that, he was president of products and platforms.

This follows a reorganization the company made over the summer, when Osaic expanded Hodge’s role to include leading the technology and service teams, according to published reports. He had previously served as executive vice president of trading and operations since 2022. Prior to joining Osaic, he was an executive vice president at LPL Financial.

At that time, the firm also expanded Dimple Shah’s role to focus on advisor growth solutions, according to published reports.

In addition, the titles for two other senior executives have changed. Greg Cornick, president of advice and wealth management, and Ed Swenson, who was hired in 2023 as president of RIA Solutions, both of whom held the title of “president,” are now listed as executive vice presidents. Until recently, Schlueter also held a president title.

Hodge did not return a request for comment.

A spokesman for Osaic said Cornick’s role has not changed. He’s still responsible for financial advisor recruiting and retention, with Erinn Ford, executive vice president of advisor engagement, and Kristen Kimmell, executive vice president of business development, reporting to him.

“Greg’s role has not changed since he joined the firm,” said a spokesman for Osaic, in a statement. “His (and several other executives’) title changes were part of an overall, ongoing effort within Osaic to standardize roles through Journey to One. This took place with numerous employees who had the title of president. None of the roles of these employees was changed, and Greg still has organizational responsibility for the firm’s recruiting and retention efforts.”

A source familiar with the company said the title changes demonstrate that the executives have been “levelized.”

“Greg was where the buck stopped as far as both advisor retention and recruiting,” neither of which seemed to have met the firm’s ambitions, the source said.

As the integrations have progressed, numerous teams left Osaic for other firms, including a California-based team managing about $1 billion in assets that joined LPL Financial late last month.

Just this week, a Florida office of supervisory jurisdiction managing more than $1 billion moved to Ausdal Financial Partners from Osaic Wealth. The team of 15 advisors, led by OSJ Supervisor Richard Gerepka, was previously with American Portfolios, a broker/dealer acquired by Osaic in 2022.

Last April, LPL scooped up Pilot Financial, a $4.6 billion firm with 105 advisors, from Osaic, which was previously affiliated with Lincoln.

In September, long-time Osaic advisor Debra Brennan Tagg, who leads Dallas-based BFS Advisory Group with $318 million in client assets, left to join NewEdge Advisors, a New Orleans–based RIA. Brennan Tagg started her career in 1999 with FSC Securities, which was consolidated into Osaic in late 2023.

Swenson, the former chief operating officer at Dynasty Financial Partners, was hired in 2023 to set up a compelling, go-to-market strategy for Osaic in the RIA space. One source close to the company said there were frustrations in the C-suite on the progress of that initiative.

Earlier this month, financial advisor Tom Payant closed down his RIA, Payant Wealth Management Group, to join Osaic’s W-2 employee affiliation model, launched in 2023 under Swenson’s leadership. Osaic’s W-2 model allows the firm to purchase books of businesses and have advisors come under its corporate RIA as employees.

In January, Osaic closed on an RIA acquisition in Tampa, Fla., with six advisors and approximately $500 million in assets. It also added its first W-2 office in Ft. Lauderdale, with a new producing advisor.

The firm’s corporate RIA, Osaic Advisory Services, now has over 300 advisors and more than $16.8 billion in assets.

This follows the departure in August of Jen Roche, executive vice president of marketing and communications at Osaic. She joined LPL Financial, where she had worked previously in her career, as a senior vice president of corporate communications and public relations.

Kirsten Bosch, a senior vice president of transitions and onboarding at Osaic, and Nicole Ball, a senior vice president of growth marketing, also left the company at the end of last year, according to an AdvisorHub report. Ball has since joined Hive Wealth, a community wealth planning app, as chief marketing and client experience officer, according to her LinkedIn profile.

The changes come as Osaic continues to consolidate its broker/dealer entities as part of its “Journey to One” initiative. In 2023, the network of broker/dealers formerly known as Advisor Group rebranded as Osaic, with a multi-year plan to integrate its b/ds under the Osaic brand. Additionally, Osaic closed its acquisition of Lincoln Financial’s $115 billion wealth business last May, requiring the onboarding of more than 1,400 advisors.

In a recent credit opinion following a ratings affirmation, Moody’s said that Osaic’s assets under administration had grown significantly over the last five years to roughly $705 billion as of Sept. 30, 2024. The ratings agency said that while it’s “Journey to One” initially led to higher expenses and “limited profitability improvements,” the effort is expected to benefit expenses and boost EBITDA in 2025. “The new corporate structure expands the company’s addressable market for acquisitions and facilitates the efficient transfer of books of business from retiring advisors onto its advisory platform,” the report said.

Osaic has been backed by private equity firm Reverence Capital since 2019.