Great-West Lifeco announced July 31 that its subsidiary, Great-West Life, has completed its acquisition of Financial Horizons Group. The acquisition was previously announced in May.

"As part of our Canada transformation, we are committed to investing in new capabilities for our business," said Stefan Kristjanson, Great-West Life's president and chief operating officer, Canada. "This strategic acquisition gives our organization a strong presence in the growing independent MGA sector of the Canadian market."

Management team will stay in place

Financial Horizons Group will continue to operate with its own governance and processes and board of directors. In addition, the current management team will stay and run the business under the president and CEO, John Hamilton.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed although Great-West says it is “expected to be earnings accretive, although not material to overall Canadian earnings.”

6,600 contracted advisors

Financial Horizons Group has a network of 6,600 contracted advisors and 30 branch offices across Canada as well as head offices in Ontario and Quebec. It also owns an MFDA dealer, with $1.2 billion in assets under administration, primarily Quebec-based.