Independent Financial Partners, a super office of supervisory jurisdiction affiliated with LPL Financial, decided to break away and launch its own broker/dealer last April. But a chunk of the firm’s 500 advisors have decided to stay with LPL, according to CEO Dan Arnold’s calculations.
During LPL’s third quarter earnings call on Thursday, Arnold said the independent b/d has been in touch with IFP advisors so that they “know their options so they can make an informed choice” on which firm to affiliate with. IFP, a hybrid office of supervisory jurisdiction, is preparing to separate from LPL and launch its own b/d in April of next year.
“I’d say roughly one-third of the advisors to our knowledge have made a decision,” Arnold said about the IFP advisors during the call. “And I think three out of every four has made the decision to stay on the LPL platform. So we feel pretty good about that progress. There’s work to do, but I think so far we see a good trend.”
IFP has about 520 advisors and $12 billion in assets under management, meaning roughly 130 advisors have already made a decision to remain with LPL, according to Arnold’s calculation.
Chris Hamm, IFP’s chief operating officer, said he doesn't take issue with Arnold commenting on IFP. He said the relationship between the two firms has remained amicable even after IFP decided to start its own b/d. Still, he said it might be premature for either party to declare victories.
About 200 advisors have informally said they intend to remain with IFP, according to Hamm. Although, he’s not counting any advisor unless they’ve already filed their Form U5 with FINRA, submitted within 30 days of a registered representative leaving a firm (in this case, LPL). “I’d rather have this conversation in April,” Hamm said.
Every advisor counts on IFP, even while it attracts outside interest from advisors and executives alike. Hamm said he expects the new b/d will have 325 to 350 advisors at the time it launches next year.
For LPL, the largest IBD with a total of 16,174 advisors and total brokerage and advisory assets of $681 billion, retaining 130 IFP advisors—or none of them—won’t dramatically impact the company. New recruits to the firm brought with them $9.1 billion in new assets during the third quarter alone and its hybrid advisory platform has a total of $121 billion, which includes firms that run their own RIA.
An LPL spokesperson did not return a request for comment.
