Corporate Roundup: Lincoln and Bain Capital Partnership, Waverly Advisors Acquires Fiduciary Wealth
Lincoln, Bain Capital Announce Partnership
Lincoln Financial has announced an $825 million strategic growth investment from Bain Capital, in which the global investment firm will acquire a 9.9% stake.
As part of the transaction, Lincoln and Bain Capital have agreed to enter a 10-year, non-exclusive strategic investment management relationship, with Bain Capital becoming an investment manager across asset classes including private credit, structured assets, mortgage loans, and private equity. This partnership provides Lincoln with access to private asset classes with differentiated risk-adjusted returns that will boost Lincoln’s existing multi-manager platform.
“Today’s announcement marks a pivotal milestone for Lincoln and highlights our commitment to delivering long-term value for our stakeholders,” said Ellen Cooper, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Lincoln Financial. “This partnership aligns us with a highly reputable organization whose powerful platform and shared values and goals will enable us to accelerate the execution of our strategy. We are extremely pleased with the strategic and financial benefits of our mutual capabilities and believe this partnership positions us for future success.”
“For over 120 years, Lincoln has served as a trusted financial steward for millions of people,” said David Gross, co-managing partner at Bain Capital. “This long-term, strategic relationship reflects our commitment to advancing Lincoln’s future by providing access to our high-quality investment platform, expertise across asset classes, and value-added capital. We look forward to working closely with the Lincoln team to further their organization in driving meaningful scale and profitable growth.”
The parties have signed a definitive agreement for the sale of a 9.9% equity stake on a post-issuance basis in Lincoln National Corporation (LNC) for $825 million in an all-cash transaction. LNC will sell approximately 18.8 million shares of its common stock for $44.00 per share, based on a 25% premium to the 30-day volume-weighted average price as of April 8, 2025. Under the terms of the agreement, Bain Capital has agreed to certain limitations and restrictions on its ability to divest its ownership stake.
The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, and is anticipated to close in the second half of 2025.
Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC acted as financial advisor and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz served as legal advisor to Lincoln Financial. Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation acted as structuring advisor and Debevoise & Plimpton LLP and Ropes and Gray LLP served as legal advisor to Bain Capital.
Waverly Advisors Acquires Fiduciary Wealth
Waverly Advisors, LLC, a federally registered investment adviser (RIA) that specializes in investment management, financial planning and wealth management solutions for high-net-worth individuals, corporate retirement plans and institutional clients, has acquired Fiduciary Wealth Advisors, a wealth management firm located in Sarasota, FL.
The partnership is set to further expand Waverly’s presence in Southwest Florida.
Founded by Scott Collins in 2014, FWA works with clients and manages portfolios using a data-driven approach. Collins will join Waverly as a partner and wealth advisor. The acquisition of FWA will contribute approximately $110 million in assets under management (AUM) to the firm.
“Attracting top talent like Scott is a key reason Waverly continues to focus on M&A,” said Justin Russell, president and CEO of Waverly. “Bringing on experienced professionals like Scott, who align closely with Waverly’s core values, helps foster a collaborative environment where the team can learn from one another, deepen their industry knowledge, and elevate Waverly’s outstanding client experience.”
“Waverly’s commitment to its clients was very attractive to me when considering a partnership,” said Collins. “By joining Waverly, my clients will benefit from enhanced infrastructure and additional resources, enabling me to focus solely on servicing clients.”
The acquisition of FWA marks Waverly’s 25th transaction since accepting an equity investment in December 2021 from Wealth Partners Capital Group (WPCG) and HGGC’s Aspire Holdings platform. The transaction closed on April 4, 2025.
Tyler Nunnally with Nunnally International Inc. was FWA’s advisor on the transaction. Financial and legal terms of the deal will not be disclosed.
CFP Board Names Certification Leader
CFP Board has appointed Chia-Li Chien, Ph.D., CFP as its managing director of Professional Practice. Chien will oversee CFP Board’s competency standards for certification, including examinations, experience, education and continuing education requirements.
As managing director, Chien ensures that CFP certification meets the annual third-party accreditation standards of the National Commission for Certifying Agencies and that the CFP exam remains a valid, reliable and legally defensible assessment and upholds its professional standards.
“Chia-Li’s unique combination of academic expertise, practice experience and leadership in financial planning education make her the ideal fit for this role,” said CFP Board CEO Kevin R. Keller, CAE. “Her deep understanding of the financial planning profession is a key asset in our work to keep CFP® certification impactful and relevant.”
Chien joins CFP Board from The American College of Financial Services, where she served as associate provost of Undergraduate & Graduate Programs, overseeing standards, policies and curriculum management. During her time there, she developed a new CFP Board Registered Program — the Master of Science in Financial Planning.
With a decade of experience in financial services education, Chien has helped to develop CFP Board Registered Programs, including those at Ball State University and California Lutheran University. Before leading financial education programs, she was a CFP practitioner and held senior management roles in Fortune 500 companies.
As a CFP Board volunteer, Chien was chair of the 2024 Council on Education, a mentor in the WIN program and a CFP exam writer and reviewer for over a decade.
“I’m thrilled to step into this role,” said Chien. “I’m eager to build on CFP Board’s legacy of excellence in step with the evolving financial planning profession.”
Chien holds a Ph.D. in financial and retirement planning and a master’s degree in financial services from The American College of Financial Services. She earned an master’s degree in insurance from the University of Hartford and her bachelor’s degree in finance from Central Connecticut State University.
Based in CFP Board’s Washington, D.C., headquarters, Chien will report to CFP Board COO K. Dane Snowden. She joined the organization on April 7. CFP Board’s recruiting partner, Vetted Solutions, assisted in the search for this new role.
Hub Grows Employee Benefits, Retirement and Private Wealth Teams
Hub International Limited has added new team members to its U.S. Employee Benefits and Retirement & Private Wealth leadership team.
Mustafa Faizani joins HUB in a new role as executive vice president of U.S. Employee Benefits and Retirement & Private Wealth, effective May 5, 2025. Booth succeeds Mike Barone as the new president of U.S. Employee Benefits Practice. Barone has led the practice for 12 years, and he will step into a new role at HUB focused on M&A, recruiting top talent and producer coaching/sales assistance.
“Mustafa is a proven leader in mobilizing sales, servicing teams and fostering collaboration across multiple lines of business. His commercial experience, and digital and artificial intelligence innovation for product development and servicing will drive further alignment between our benefits and retirement businesses,” said Marc Cohen, chairman and CEO of HUB. “Our retirement and employee benefits leadership’s focus and successful record in cross selling is an important contributor to our organic growth. Mustafa will further add to that strategy with proprietary go-to-market solutions that capitalize on market opportunities.”
Cohen continued, “Employee Benefits is a critical offering for our small, middle market and upper middle market clients. Michael’s track record of sales growth and relentless focus on new business and client retention has made him the perfect candidate to be the next Employee Benefits Practice leader in the U.S.”
Faizani brings nearly 20 years of experience in employee benefits and retirement consulting. He joins from a global health and retirement professional services firm, where he held several leadership positions and has experience across employee benefits, retirement and private wealth and P&C. Prior to that, Faizani worked for 11 years in institutional investment client- and market-facing roles, including vice president for Retirement Plan Services at Union Bank of California. He holds an master’s degree in finance from Pepperdine University and BBA from the University of Houston.
Booth started his career at HUB in December 2015 as the chief sales officer for the Midwest West region. He was promoted in February 2020 to chief sales officer for HUB’s U.S. Employee Benefits Practice. In his new role, Booth will lead HUB’s investments in the practice, which has more than 5,000 U.S. employee benefits professionals who provide employee benefits and consulting, health and performance, employee engagement and communication, workforce technology solutions, data and clinical analytics and compliance services.
Faizani will report to Jack McGrath, president of HUB’s Pacific region and a member of the executive management team. Booth and Joe DeNoyior, president, HUB Retirement & Private Wealth, will report to Faizani.
NoxNumis Joins Osaic
Wealth management solutions provider Osaic, Inc. announced that NoxNumis, a Wichita, Kansas-based wealth management firm serving over $450 million in client assets, has joined its community of advisors.
John Toothaker and Ron Gabel, partners and private wealth managers at NoxNumis, lead the firm in providing fiduciary financial advice focused on retirement planning, tax minimization, estate distribution, investment management and business and farm succession planning. The team includes five wealth managers, an insurance agent, two operations executives, and a broad network of client service specialists.
“We’re passionate about helping our clients gain confidence about their financial futures and are excited to fully leverage extensive support that Osaic can offer through their robust investment platform, innovative tech solutions, coaching and consulting services,” said Toothaker. “When the time is right, Osaic’s scale and access to their community of advisors is also going to dramatically increase our prospects for future acquisitions,” added Gabel.
“NoxNumis exemplifies the type of growth focused, forward looking wealth management team that can thrive in our ecosystem,” said Kristen Kimmell, executive vice president of business development of Osaic. “We are excited to support John, Ron and their team, enabling them to achieve their growth goals as a business while providing the highest level of service attainable to their clients.”
NoxNumis will join a community of financial professionals invited to Osaic’s upcoming NXT Conference taking place in Las Vegas this May.
Lenox Advisors Announces Promotions
Lenox Advisors, Inc., an affiliate of NFP, an Aon company, announced the promotions of Gabe Schulman to partner and Michael Girasole to managing director. Schulman previously held the title of managing director and Girasole had been a senior vice president.
“Gabe and Michael have consistently demonstrated exceptional leadership and an unwavering commitment to client success,” said Greg Large, president, Lenox Advisors. “These well-earned promotions reflect their outstanding performances and contributions to the firm’s growth. We look forward to all they will continue to achieve in their new roles.”
Schulman has been with Lenox Advisors since 2011 and specializes in comprehensive estate, insurance and wealth management planning strategies. He services the firm’s high net worth clients and corporate clients for whom he structures in depth employee benefit strategies and executive carve out programs. Prior to joining Lenox Advisors, Schulman served as a financial representative at the Northwestern Mutual Financial Network. Schulman received his degree in finance from Binghamton University’s School of Management.
Girasole joined Lenox Advisors in 2016 and is responsible for the growth and development of the firm’s East Coast offices in New York City, Baltimore, Maryland and Stamford, CT. Girasole also provides individual and corporate clients with wealth accumulation and preservation planning strategies. He previously worked for Empire Wealth Strategies, an office of Penn Mutual. He holds FINRA Series 6, 63, 65 & 7 licenses, and received his bachelor’s degree in communications from Marist College.
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