{"id":615424,"date":"2026-04-30T14:53:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T14:53:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/615424\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T14:53:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T14:53:13","slug":"gateway-investments-joins-osaics-w-2-employee-channel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/615424\/","title":{"rendered":"Gateway Investments Joins Osaic’s W-2 Employee Channel"},"content":{"rendered":"

A New York-based Osaic-affiliated team is the latest to move from the firm\u2019s 1099 to W-2 channel.<\/p>\n

Gateway Investments is joining Osaic\u2019s W-2 channel, which Osaic calls “Empowered Independence,” after affiliating with the firm under its 1099 channel since 2004. The firm has $1.5 billion in assets under advisement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Before Osaic rebranded and integrated its eight affiliated broker\/dealers under one name and structure during the \u201cJourney to One\u201d initiative, Gateway was affiliated with Royal Alliance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Managing Director Thomas Santucci leads the firm and said moving into a W-2 channel would open up more time for clients while relegating operational support to Osaic.<\/p>\n

\u201cTransitioning to Osaic\u2019s Empowered Independence model allows us to focus more of our time on those relationships while also investing in the future of our firm and the next generation of advisors,\u201d Santucci said. \u201cIt\u2019s a natural evolution of a partnership we\u2019ve built over more than two decades.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related:Former Cetera Employee Files Sex Discrimination Lawsuit<\/a><\/p>\n

Cindy Hamel,\u00a0head of Empowered Independence,\u00a0expects the number of external teams joining the W-2 channel to grow, with the team aiming to be \u201cmuch more aggressive externally\u201d in pursuing prospects by the end of the year.<\/p>\n

Osaic launched its W-2 employee affiliation model in 2023, enabling the firm to purchase books of business and have advisors join its corporate RIA as employees. Since last year, the pace of teams moving into the channel has accelerated, with 10 deals since Hamel took over its leadership last summer.<\/p>\n

In an interview with\u00a0Wealth Management,\u00a0Hamel said most teams warmed to the W-2 model for two reasons: for the \u201ctime leverage\u201d of regaining those hours previously spent on operational needs, and for team leaders with a three- to five-year time horizon in mind to exit the business.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Joining the W-2 channel allows them to monetize the business, find successors if they don\u2019t have them (or support those they do), and cause minimal client disruption, Hamel said.<\/p>\n

According to Hamel, the channel has \u201creally been reactionary,\u201d and hasn\u2019t done much external marketing, as the firm organizes the division\u2019s infrastructure. While three of the teams since Hamel joined have been internal to Osaic, she said the firm intends to \u201chave a more orchestrated external reach-out plan\u201d toward the end of the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen people are in the external marketplace looking, they\u2019ve already kind of made the decision that they\u2019re looking to do some type of transition,\u201d she said. \u201cIn some cases, they haven\u2019t thought about moving W-2.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this month,\u00a0Pointes North Wealth Management<\/a>, a Salem, N.H.-based practice with about $500 million in managed assets, moved from Osaic\u2019s 1099 channel to the W-2 employee affiliation. Previously, they\u2019d been affiliated with Innovative Financial Group, an Osaic office of supervisory jurisdiction.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Related:LPL Launches Support Program for Deployed Advisors<\/a><\/p>\n

Like Gateway, the team said the move would reduce the time spent on administrative needs, while also providing more succession options.<\/p>\n

According to Hamel, W-2 employee teams get to keep their branding if they so desire, while continuing \u201cto operate their investment strategies in the way that they want.\u201d At the same time, Osaic assumes the team\u2019s established real estate.<\/p>\n

Hamel stressed that the W-2 channel would not come at the expense of the firm\u2019s 1099 business, noting that the W-2 channel was likely to grow faster because it was newer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But she stressed that the firm\u2019s total W-2 business would eventually \u201cmeaningfully contribute to EBITDA,\u201d and that the pace of deals into the channel would \u201caccelerate\u201d from the pace set since Hamel joined the effort.<\/p>\n

In an interview with\u00a0Wealth Management,\u00a0Dimple Shah, an executive vice president of Strategy & Client Experience with Osaic, said that the lines \u201cbetween channels are blurring,\u201d with Osaic thinking of itself as a \u201cwealth management platform\u201d rather than as an independent broker\/dealer platform.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Related:Cetera Combines Two Employee Firms to Create $19B RIA<\/a><\/p>\n

The \u201cpremise\u201d of the W-2 channel (as well as the firm\u2019s fee-only RIA business, bolstered by the acquisition of the $13.5 billion Boston-based firm CW Advisors) underscored this change in thinking. Like Hamel, Shah expected the number of external teams entering its W-2 channel to grow.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not a market that Osaic has historically competed in, but I think it\u2019s an opportunity for us now with this unified platform. We\u2019ve got \u2018Journey to One\u2019 behind us,\u201d she said. \u201cThese are the types of strategic growth opportunities we can start going after.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A New York-based Osaic-affiliated team is the latest to move from the firm\u2019s 1099 to W-2 channel. Gateway…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":615425,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[28,147,530],"class_list":["post-615424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=615424"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615424\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/615425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=615424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=615424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=615424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}