After the sale of Morgan Keegan, bank inks deal with indie B-D to provide investment services to its customers.
After the somewhat tumultuous sale of its broker-dealer earlier this year, Regions Financial Corp. has begun to rebuild its presence in the securities business. The company today announced a deal with the Cetera Financial Group Inc. under one of Cetera’s independent broker-dealers will provide investment services for Regions in 16 states.
The deal is a significant move for both Regions and Cetera.
The Birmingham, Ala.-based banking company, which has a large footprint in the Southeast, sold its large brokerage subsidiary, Morgan Keegan & Co., to Raymond James Financial Inc. in April. And a Cetera subsidiary, PrimeVest Financial Services Inc., directly competes with leading broker-dealers such as LPL Financial and Raymond James in placing independent-contractor registered reps in bank branches.
The roots of the deal can be traced to the financial crisis of 2008. Regions received a $3.5 billion loan in 2008 as part of the federal government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program. It was able to repay the TARP money this year after selling Morgan Keegan to Raymond James for $930 million.
Cetera Financial was created after ING Groep, shedding non-core businesses in the wake of the financial meltdown, sold its ING Advisors Network Inc. to private-equity firm Lightyear Capital in 2010.
Customers at Regions bank branches will have access to a full range of financial advisory services, including managed accounts, mutual funds, annuities, insurance and retirement planning, the companies said in a statement issued this morning. Regions will begin placing brokers in bank branches in 2013 and will begin looking for financial advisers to fill those positions over the next few weeks. Interested reps should look on PrimeVest’s career opportunities website in the coming weeks for information.
“PrimeVest has a proven track record of helping banks create customized programs to meet the needs of their customers, and we are pleased to partner with them to offer Regions customers access to comprehensive financial planning, investment and insurance services through our extensive branch network,” Jim Nonnengard, executive vice president of Regions Investment Services, said in the statement.
“This is a tremendous opportunity to combine our dedicated focus on financial institutions with the impressive scale and expertise at Regions,” said Catherine Bonneau, PrimeVest’s president and chief executive. “We are looking forward to building a great program together.”
PrimeVest is a self-clearing broker-dealer and registered investment adviser that works with 500 banks and credit unions. On Dec. 1, it will change its name to Cetera Financial Institutions.
Regions Financial Corp. has $122 billion in customer assets.
