A New Jersey-based independent financial advisor with about $150 million in client brokerage advisory and retirement plan assets will partner with LPL Financial, the independent broker/dealer announced today. Advisor Robert Paolini of Paolini Advisors will align with Independent Advisor Alliance (IAA), an enterprise firm for advices leveraging LPL’s platforms.
“Being an independent advisor means also being an entrepreneur,” Paolini said. “A partnership with IAA and LPL provides us with resources and personalized support that can help us build on the quality of service we provide our clients. And they can also deliver the level of strategic support I’m looking for to grow my business.”
Paolini founded the firm in 2000, offering a range of wealth management support to professionals, business owners and retirees. Prior to his partnership with LPL, Paolini joined with FSC Securities (a firm in Advisor Group’s broker/dealer network). Rich Steinmeier, LPL’s Managing Director and Divisional President, Business Development, said the b/d understands the “challenges and opportunities” advisors face both as business owners and client advisors.
“As an advisor’s client base grows, so does the need for support and resources that make it possible to not only sustain that level of service, but build on it,” he said. “Our commitment is to deliver the technology, resources and capabilities than can help them be successful managing their businesses today, while also providing access to strategic support and capital resources that can help them accelerate their growth plans when they’re ready.”
IAA is a Charlotte, N.C.-based hybrid with 204 advisors that manages $8.6 billion in client assets. In a recent interview, CEO Robert Russo lauded LPL’s recent attempts to open stronger lines of communication with hybrid firms (with Steinmeier noting LPL’s branch recruiting was up 45% year over year). IAA’s pipeline of new recruits increased this year compared to previous years, according to Russo.
The announcement is the latest in a number of new acquisitions for LPL; last week, Chesapeake, VA-based JCG, with $150 million assets under management (AUM), joined LPL, and two retirement counselors from Benefit Funding Retirement Services (with a combined total of $150 millon AUM) joined last month. In July, a Los Angeles-based retail advisory firm with approximately $500 million in managed client assets joined LPL from FMS Financial Partners, an affiliate of Kestra Financial Partners.
