Gateway Financial Partners, a Glastonbury, Conn.–based large office of supervisory jurisdiction of LPL Financial, has hired John C. Johnson, former CEO and president of National Planning Corporation, an independent broker/dealer, as chief strategy officer.
NPC was one of the broker/dealers purchased by LPL in 2017 as part of its acquisition of National Planning Holdings, the network of b/ds affiliated with Jackson National Life Insurance Company.
Johnson led NPC from 2013 to 2018, and served as senior vice president of business development from 2000 to 2013. Prior to joining NPC, he was vice president of account management at MetLife Investors.
David Wood, founder and chief visionary officer of Gateway Financial Partners, knew Johnson from the time his firm was registered with NPC. Gateway moved to LPL in the acquisition.
“Bringing him on as our new CSO aligns perfectly with our strategic and cultural goal of supporting and elevating the growth of our advisors,” Wood said in a statement.
The news follows Gateway’s recent acquisition of Advisors’ Pride, another LPL OSJ, in Appleton, Wis. The deal represents Gateway’s first major OSJ acquisition, and more than doubles its number of advisors, with the firm now serving 170 advisors across 26 states and with a combined $7 billion in assets under management. The OSJ has a support team of 95.
Wood said the deal is the first of what he hopes are many acquisitions of other OSJs for Gateway.
“We’re trying to act as a business partner to them, providing a deep level of resources to the advisors to allow them to outsource as many of the non-revenue producing activities as they can,” Wood said. “That scale is enabling our advisors to grow really fast.”
Last year, Gateway’s average advisor grew its revenues by 40%, he said.
As Gateway looks to do more acquisitions, the firm may bring on a capital partner, such as Merchant Investment Management, Wood said. Merchant has taken minority stakes in other LPL OSJs.
Gateway would look to such a partnership not just to help finance other deals in the future, but also for the leadership and skill sets that the RIA can get from those firms.
The OSJ also announced this week the recruitment of father/daughter team Brent and Katie Kimball, with $163 million, from GWN Securities.
