LPL Financial is acquiring The Investment Center, an N.J.-based firm with about $9 billion in brokerage and advisory assets, the independent b/d announced today.
LPL intends to close and convert the Investment Center acquisition in the first half of 2025.
“This acquisition is a milestone that reflects our commitment to excellence over the past 35 years,” The Investment Center President and CEO Ralph DeVito said. “At The Investment Center, we have always prioritized the success and empowerment of our advisors, and through LPL Financial, we will enhance our ability to support them with access to even more robust resources and solutions.”
Berkshire Global Advisors was The Investment Center’s lead financial advisor in the deal, while Seward & Kissel LLP was the firm’s legal counsel.
The Investment Center, founded in 1986, is located in Bedminster, N.J. It supports about 240 advisors with back-office support needs, investment tools and technology, and several non-proprietary products for financial advisors nationwide. The firm topped WealthManagement.com’s 2015 IBD Report Card among small firms by scoring a perfect 10. (The firm had about $6.1 billion in managed assets at the time.)
The two firms were introduced during LPL’s February announcement of its ongoing acquisition of the $100 billion Atria Wealth Solutions. That transaction is expected to be completed in the second half of this year, with Atria advisors fully converted to LPL’s platform by mid-2025.
As part of that acquisition, Atria is moving its brokerage and advisory assets custodied under several b/ds onto LPL’s platform, including those focused on banks and credit unions. Five b/ds supporting advisors (Cadaret Grant, NEXT Financial Group, SCF Securities, Western International Securities and Grove Point Financial) will also be moved.
The Atria deal’s upfront price is $805 million. It was structured as an equity purchase, and LPL expects to finance it through a mix of cash and debt (onboarding and integration costs are estimated between $300 and $350 million).
LPL’s other sizable acquisitions this year, in addition to Atria and The Investment Center, include two multi-billion dollar teams that moved over from Lincoln Financial after Osaic acquired Lincoln’s $115 billion wealth business.
Lutherville, Md.-based Academy Financial and Berwyn, Pa.-based firm PFG Advisors left Osaic to merge with LPL last month (the two firms collectively managed about $4 billion). In addition, LPL acquired Pilot Financial, a $4.6 billion with 105 advisors, from Osaic. The former Lincoln team was based in Greensboro, N.C., and joined LPL as an office of supervisory jurisdiction.
In recent months, LPL (along with numerous other firms) has been named as a defendant in several lawsuits seeking a class action, alleging the firm’s cash sweep policies violated its responsibilities to its advisory clients.
Though several other firms (including Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo) have indicated they’re rethinking the rates for clients on deposit sweep accounts, LPL CEO Dan Arnold said the firm has “no plans” to change its pricing on cash solutions, including its cash sweep programs.
