Integral Wealth acquires Global Maxfin Capital’s business

Integral Wealth Securities Ltd. in Toronto is taking over the advisors and associated assets of Global Maxfin Capital Inc., the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC)-regulated platform of the Global Financial Group of Companies, both of which are located in Richmond Hill, Ont.

Integral Wealth is acquiring 12 advisors and about $280 million in assets from Global Maxfin Capital,  said John Gibson, CEO of Integral Wealth, in an interview.

An IIROC member firm, Integral Wealth currently operates a private client group business with 11 advisors and wealth managers in seven offices across the country, managing about $600 million in assets for affluent clients. The company also operates a capital markets business.

Gibson characterized the acquisition as “well suited to us,” indicating that discussions with two Global Maxfin Capital advisors with larger-sized accounts developed into a deal to acquire all of the platform’s advisors and assets.

“We had some familiarity with some of the advisors, the practices are well suited to our existing business and to our supervisory capacity here, and we were on the same back office, so we were a natural host venue for the advisors and for the assets,” Gibson said. Both Integral Wealth and Global Maxfin Capital use custodial services from Fidelity Clearing Canada ULC.

Global Maxfin Capital president and CEO Bill Charles, who indicated that his company was notifying affected clients about the transfer of advisors to Integral Wealth, said that the deal “makes sense in an industry where size and scale matters.”

He said that Global Financial, which has a Mutual Fund Dealers Association (MFDA) platform subsidiary, an insurance subsidiary, an asset management company and a group RESP unit, will now focus on its existing businesses.

“We have a very robust MFDA dealership, a very robust insurance/MGA platform,” said Charles, who is also CEO of Global Investments Inc. and the president of Global Insurance Solutions Inc.

Global Maxfin Capital is currently in the process of resigning from its IIROC membership, having informed IIROC of its intention to do so on May 3, the self-regulatory organization confirmed.

According to IIROC, resigning from the SRO is a voluntary process that permits a firm to wind up its affairs in an orderly manner. Resigning firms have to notify clients, transfer all client accounts, conduct a termination audit, pay outstanding fees and agree to maintain books and records before receiving IIROC approval to resign.

Rudy Mezzetta

Rudy is a senior reporter for Advisor.ca and its sister publication, Investment Executive. He has been reporting on tax, estate planning, industry news and more since 2005. Reach him at rudy@newcom.ca.