RCAP Adds Due Diligence Arm, Hires Snyder and Kearney

NEW YORK CITY—RCS Capital Corp. has expanded its research platform with a new division focused on alternative investment vehicles, bringing in the principals of due diligence firm Snyder Kearney LLC to run it. Investment News reported Monday that Todd Snyder and John Kearney, widely considered the leading due diligence analysts for alternative investments and nontraded REITs sold mainly by independent broker-dealers, will bring most of Snyder Kearney's employees to the new shop, which will operate as SK Research.

Nicholas Schorsch, RCAP's executive chairman, calls Snyder and Kearney “the gold standard” in due diligence. “With these new additions, we expect to become much better positioned to evaluate the alternative investment landscape,” he says.

More importantly, adds Schorsch, the addition of the SK Research division, which will operate autonomously, is intended to elevate “RCAP's entire financial services mosaic by augmenting our back office and investment management capabilities and enhancing the training, education and practice management tools available to our retail advice platform. We believe this will be to the benefit of both RCAP stockholders and the broader community of mass affluent investors who rely on our financial advisors and our investment programs.”

RCAP has been on a buying spree since going public last June. Most recently, the company announced it would buy Cetera Financial for $1.15 billion, and previously completed or announced deals for Investors Capital Holdings, Summit Brokerage Group, Hatteras Funds Group and First Allied Holdings Inc.

The company's intent behind these acquisitions is twofold: to bolster its presence in the independent financial advisor segment of the financial services industry, and to diversify its revenue stream. As reported by Investment News, the company holds a direct interest in Realty Capital Securities, the broker-dealer that serves as a wholesaler for nontraded REITs sponsored by American Realty Capital, also controlled by Schorsch. Schorsch told Investment News that he foresees growing SK Research's employee base from its current level of about 20 to 100.