Chicago – July 8, 2020 - Two of the industry’s largest and fastest-growing Registered Investment Adviser (RIA) firms, Brookstone Capital Management and FormulaFolios, are combining to create a $6.5 billion+ RIA. This merger positions the firm as a leading provider of advisory services to its targeted niche of retirement advisors. The combined company will retain the Brookstone name and will reflect the best that each firm has to offer, including exclusive and expansive state-of-the-art technologies, portfolio design and advisor support, a vast suite of investment options, marketing programs and advisor training solutions. The FormulaFolios brand will be retained for continued oversight of the asset management division.
“Brookstone and FormulaFolios have consistently been the top two considerations for retirement advisors seeking an RIA partner supportive of their planning philosophies,” said Dean Zayed, JD, LLM, CFP®, founder and CEO of Brookstone and President of AmeriLife’s Investment Advisory Services division. “It was a natural fit for us to come together as one. Now, advisors can gain access to all of the leading programs and resources each of our companies have to offer.”
The company will leverage the best of its combined resources to provide advisors with an array of business-building solutions. Highlights include:
- Next-Gen Technology Stack: Exclusive technologies for lead generation, financial planning and proposal development, account aggregation, portfolio analysis and management, and more
- Financial Planning Support: With a software-enabled planning process, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professionals, CFAs and other support staff are dedicated to offering one-on-one assistance with financial plan and proposal development
- Investment Selection: An open-architecture platform and targeted model portfolios offer advisors diverse options for investment management for growth, with an emphasis on income strategies for retirement
- Marketing: With one of the most robust digital marketing platforms in the industry, the company provides end-to-end support for online lead generation and brand development
- Training and Networking: From working with newly appointed advisors to advisors with more than $100m in AUM, the combined company offers training opportunities at each level of business development as well as interactive networking opportunities among advisors and leaders of the firm
Brookstone will maintain both companies’ headquarters in Chicago and Grand Rapids, Mich. The more than 100 employees will work between these two offices and a satellite office in California. The five key executives between both firms will be retained, serving in the following capacities: Dean Zayed as CEO; Darryl Ronconi as President and COO; Jason Crump as VP of Relationship Management; and Joel VanWoerkom as VP of Operations.
In July of 2019, Brookstone partnered with AmeriLife Group (“AmeriLife”), which is now backed by the private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P. ("THL"). The combined organization created one of the largest independent marketing and RIA organizations in the U.S.
About Brookstone Capital Management
Founded in 2006, Brookstone Capital Management is an SEC-Registered Investment Adviser (RIA) firm providing fee-based asset management services through its niche network of more than 400 financial advisors and firms. As an open-architecture Turnkey Asset Management Platform (TAMP), Brookstone offers advisors a wide array of investment strategies. Founder and CEO Dean Zayed established Brookstone with the singular goal of forging strategic relationships with independent retirement advisors to comprehensively support all aspects of their fee-based advisory business. The company manages more than $2.95 billion, as of Dec. 31, 2019. Visit www.brookstonecm.com for more information.
About FormulaFolios
Founded in 2011, FormulaFolios is a Registered Investment Adviser (RIA) that uses money management algorithms to eliminate emotion from the investment processes and empowers financial advisors to better serve their clients. Brookstone serves hundreds of financial advisors and thousands of clients nationwide and manages $3.64 billion in assets as of Dec. 31, 2019. It has offices in Grand Rapids, Mich., and Costa Mesa, Cali. Visit www.brookstonecm.com for more information.
About AmeriLife
AmeriLife is a national leader in developing, marketing and distributing life and health insurance, annuities and retirement planning solutions to enhance the lives of pre-retirees and retirees. For nearly 50 years, AmeriLife has partnered with the nation’s leading insurance carriers to provide value and quality to customers served through a national distribution network of over 150,000 insurance agents and advisors, 25 marketing organizations, and 50 insurance agency locations.
About Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P.
Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P. (“THL”) is a premier private equity firm investing in growth companies headquartered in North America. THL focuses its investment activity across four industry sectors: Financial Services, Consumer, Healthcare and Technology & Business Solutions. Since its founding in 1974, THL has raised more than $25 billion of equity capital, invested in over 140 companies and completed more than 360 add-on acquisitions representing an aggregate enterprise value at acquisition of over $200 billion. With dedicated sector and operating teams, THL brings deep domain expertise and resources to build great companies by helping to accelerate growth, improve operations and drive long- term sustainable value in partnership with management.
