Deals & People May 8, 2023

Accelerate Retirement Spins Off From Aggregator NFP

As an independent advisory, the firm expects to be more ‘nimble’ in meeting both adviser and client needs.

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Accelerate Retirement, a newly independent registered investment adviser focused on retirement plan consulting, is bucking the trend of consolidation in the space by spinning off from insurance brokerage and RIA aggregator NFP Corp.

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Accelerate Retirement had an “amicable” break with NFP after the team of about 15 investment advisers with just less than $2 billion in client assets felt it had reached the scale where it could go out on its own and grow, both organically and by bringing on more advisers, according to Chris Giovinazzo, managing director Accelerate Retirement. The Aliso Viejo, California-based firm will continue to serve both plan sponsors and individuals with retirement planning and wealth management.

Chris Giovinazzo.

“There’s no shortage of M&A out there, and because of all that consolidation, there are so few independent national aggregators left,” Giovinazzo says. “We have reached critical mass and decided it was time to be independent.”

Giovinazzo points out that NFP was a “phenomenal partner,” but the move to go independent will allow the firm to be nimbler in making decisions about technology, resources and how advisers are allowed to work with clients.

“We have spoken with so many advisers, even those acquired by larger organizations, who don’t feel they own their business or their clients,” Giovinazzo says. “Our goal as an RIA is to provide all the tools that advisers need, but to let them be the architect of their own day. … We want to give them all the technological advantage and support, but in a way that they can focus on their clients with their own preferences and style.”

Currently, about 95% of the firm’s revenue is derived from qualified retirement plans, according to Giovinazzo. But Accelerate Retirement will be looking to grow in the area of wealth management services to serve clients who, while not considered high-net-worth individuals, are seeking more personalized investment management advice, he says.

“We believe every American deserves access to fiduciary advice at a reasonable price,” he says. “We feel that there is a large population of underserved people who don’t meet the asset minimums of high-net-worth focused advisors, yet they need our help. We want to bridge the gap and provide guidance through our workplace financial wellness platform and tailored wealth management solutions.”

Accelerate Retirement will remain a member of the Retirement Plan Advisory Group, which provides a retirement plan practice management platform.

NFP is active in the M&A space for RIAs, and its businesses that include insurance, benefits consulting, retirement plan advisement and wealth management. The Los Angeles-based firm has more than 7,000 employees globally.

Compliance May 7, 2023

Desantis Bans ESG Consideration in Florida’s Investment Decisions

The governor sees Florida as a trendsetter in how states can prohibit and ban ESG in state funds. 

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Florida Governor Ron Desantis this week signed into law Senate Bill 302, legislation to prohibit and penalize consideration of environmental, social and governance factors in the state’s investment decisions.

The new law codifies and expands a ban adopted by Florida’s State Board of Administration in August 2022 that prohibits asset allocators from considering ESG factors in their investment decisions. The expansion applies to all funds of the state treasury, as well as all local government retirement plans, investments of local government surplus funds and investment of funds raised by citizen support or direct-support organizations.

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“Through this legislation, Florida will continue to lead the nation against big banks and corporate activists who’ve colluded to inject woke ideology into the global marketplace, regardless of the financial interests of beneficiaries,” DeSantis stated in a press release.

The law prohibits:

  • The use of ESG factors by state and local governments when issuing bonds, including a contract prohibition on rating agencies whose ESG ratings negatively impact the issuer’s bond ratings;
  • All state and local entities from considering or giving preference to ESG as part of the procurement and contracting process;
  • Banks that engage in corporate activism from holding public deposits as a qualified public depository;
  • Financial institutions from discriminating against customers for their “religious, political, or social beliefs, including their support for securing the border, owning a firearm, and increasing our energy independence;” and
  • The financial sector from considering social credit scores in banking and lending practices that aim to prevent Floridians from obtaining loans, lines of credit and bank accounts.

The bill also directs Florida’s attorney general, chief financial officer and commissioner of financial regulation to enforce the provisions.

“Just as the Governor fought [former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony] Fauci—and won—he’s fighting a woke Wall Street that looks down upon every-day Americans,” Jimmy Patronis, Florida’s chief financial officer states.

In January, a group of 25 states sued to halt the Department of Labor’s rule permitting fiduciaries to use ESG factors when selecting investments for ERISA retirement plans.  A group of 25 Republican attorneys general coalition of 19 states, including Florida’s, sued, along with a fossil-fuel company, a fossil-fuel advocacy group and a Manhattan Institute scholar. The case is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Amarillo Division.

DeSantis said he hopes the Florida legislation will provide a blueprint for other states.

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