Financial Horizons acquires Estate Financial

Kitchener, Ont.-based managing general agency (MGA) Financial Horizons Group, has acquired New Brunswick-based MGA Estate Financial Inc., the companies announced on Friday.

The transaction closed on Feb. 2 and saw Financial Horizons purchase 100% of the shares of Estate Financial, which was founded in 1999 and has more than 200 brokers who serve clients in five provinces.

Estate Financial has two offices, located in Fredericton and Moncton. Both offices, along with the respective staff, will be retained under the acquisition.

AndrĂ©e McLean, president of Estate Financial, and Joe Daley, director of brokerage, will continue in their current roles, providing sales support and service to their advisors throughout the Maritimes. On a day-to-day basis, it will be “business as usual,” the companies said.

“This acquisition is another strategic step in the growth of Financial Horizons as the leading MGA and financial services company in Canada,” says John Hamilton, president and CEO of Financial Horizons, in a statement. “The addition of Estate Financial significantly increases our presence in the MGA marketplace in Eastern Canada.”

McLean and Daley conducted “extensive research” of major MGAs before deciding to join forces with Financial Horizons, according to a statement.

“We needed access to a more diversified product offering and we determined that Financial Horizons, with its dynamic leadership and strategic approach to growth, was the best fit,” McLean says in the statement.

Financial Horizons now has more than 10,000 independent advisors across Canada. The company has grown aggressively through acquisitions in recent years.

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