LPL Financial continues to poach teams from firms undergoing major acquisitions and integrations, nabbing one $170 million team formerly from Avantax before it merged with Cetera.
It also picked up a $250 million team from Osaic earlier this week, continuing a multi-month run of Osaic-to-LPL transitions.
George Englert, his son Kevin Englert and Carrie Hughes make up the Springfield, Va. team Englert Financial (George Englert founded the firm in 2001, according to FINRA records). The company works closely with several federal agencies, including the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Kevin Englert joined in 2011, while Hughes joined in 2016.
Hughes said the team chose LPL for “its best-in-class technology and innovative resources.” At the same time, Kevin Englert said LPL’s status as a Fortune 500 company means they have confidence in building out the team, knowing there’s stability in the affiliated partner.
In September last year, Cetera announced it would acquire Avantax, a tax-focused wealth management firm (formerly Blucora), in an all-cash sale for $1.2 billion. The deal took Avantax private, de-listing it from Nasdaq and making it a standalone business within Cetera.
Cetera Holdings CEO Mike Durbin said the deal would strengthen Cetera’s succession planning program. Avantax shareholders approved the move in late November last year, and the firms closed on the agreement less than a week later.
However, some Avantax advisors expressed anxiety about the shift; a flash poll of Avantax advisors conducted by WealthManagemenet.com when the deal was announced revealed about half were considering changing firms due to the news.
In an unrelated move, Jerry Rizza, with more than 30 years of industry experience, moved to LPL after being affiliated with Royal Alliance, one of Advisor Group’s eight legacy broker/dealers, before Advisor Group rebranded to Osaic last year.
Rizza played professional baseball in the Oakland As’ minor league system before working as an accountant in New York City for several years. He settled in Melville, N.Y. and operates Rizza Financial Services with longtime licensed assistants Rachel Beneventano and Jessica Welch.
Rizza focuses on retirement planning and behavioral investment counseling. He said his move to LPL was based on his need for more efficiency in office operations and tech options.
“My staff will appreciate the ease of doing business with LPL’s integrated platform, and no doubt my clients will appreciate that they can log into one online portal to view all their account information,” he said.
LPL has been the destination for many teams opting to leave Osaic in the wake of that firm’s integration of the eight Advisor Group b/ds—American Portfolios, FSC Securities, Infinex Investments, Royal Alliance Associates, SagePoint Financial, Securities America, Triad Advisors and Woodbury Financial Services.
Osaic also closed on the deal acquiring $115 billion Lincoln Financial’s wealth business earlier this year, planning to onboard more than 1,400 advisors. In the wake of these changes, some former Advisor Group and Lincoln teams are fleeing for other firms, including LPL.
These include Pilot Financial, an extensive network of 105 advisors with $4.6 billion in managed assets, which opted to move its business to LPL from Lincoln Financial shortly after the deal finalized. The N.C.-based business was founded in 2001 and affiliated with Lincoln until the move to LPL. In February, the firm added the $520 million Wisconsin-based Equity Design Group, previously affiliated with SagePoint (another Advisor Group legacy firm).
