DPL Acquires Annuity-Focused Firm to Help Breakaway Advisors

DPL Financial Partners, a Louisville, KY.-based no-load, commission-free annuity platform for registered investment advisors, has acquired AnnuityFix, a firm assisting advisors who want to manage broker-dealer annuities for an advisory fee, and its affiliated broker-dealer Johnstone Brokerage Services.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

DPL appointed Center, TX-based AnnuityFix founder Grant Johnstone as CCO and CLO. The firm’s employees will join DPL.

The acquisition enhances DPL’s bid to broaden its capabilities for assisting financial advisors seeking independence.

“Annuities are often the last asset class tethering advisors to their broker-dealer,” said DPL Founder and CEO David Lau. “Since launching our Breakaway Accelerator late last year, we’ve begun working with scores of breakaway teams and rollups to transition annuity books.”

The accelerator program aims to help advisors move to a fee-only model by providing a way to assess every client’s annuity allocation and determine whether they would be better off with one of the commission-free options on DPL’s platform, the company said.