Cetera Loses $300 Million Multop Financial to LPLCetera Loses $300 Million Multop Financial to LPL

A wealth manager that employs as many accountants as advisors has left Cetera Financial Group for rival independent broker/dealer LPL Financial. 

Bellingham, Wash.-based Multop Financial, which oversaw approximately $300 million in brokerage and advisory assets at the end of August, said in a statement on Tuesday that it joined LPL’s b/d and corporate registered investment advisor platforms.

The firm focuses on private wealth management and integrating those services with tax-planning strategies for families and business owners. Today, it has three financial advisors, three certified public accountants and a six-member support staff.

Phillip Multop, a Air Force veteran who started the firm in 1976, said the firm made the switch in part for LPL’s technology and back-office capabilities to continue to support the growth of its clients. 

Multop Financial is the latest large group to join LPL. A team in Richmond, Va. overseeing $200 million joined earlier this month and Sackman & Son Financial Services, a $360 million RIA based in Waukegan, Ill., joined at the end of August.

At the end of July, LPL had $669 billion in total assets, with $370 billion on the brokerage platform and $299 billion in advisory, a 1.5 percent increase from the previous month and a 21.7 percent year-over-year increase, according to a monthly report published by the b/d. Total net new assets were up $400 million in July.

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