Battle of the IFPs: One LPL OSJ Recruits Four Teams From AnotherBattle of the IFPs: One LPL OSJ Recruits Four Teams From Another

Integrated Financial Partners, a Boston-based super office of supervisory jurisdiction of LPL Financial, has recruited four advisory teams from Independent Financial Partners, another OSJ of LPL that is in the process of launching its own broker/dealer. The teams, which include Gottlieb Wealth Management, InvestEd Consulting, FSG and Vantedge (formerly WealthBridge Advisors), manage $350 million in combined assets.

Gottlieb is based in Carlsbad, Calif., and is led by Jeremy Gottlieb, while InvestEd, led by Saleah Hewitt, has offices in Charleston, S.C., and La Jolla, Calif. Jay Dortch and Brian Dawahare lead FSG and are based in Louisville, Ky., while Brad Tedrick leads Carlsbad-based Vantedge. 

“I run a bicoastal business and am at a crucial tipping point in the trajectory of my firm,” Hewitt said. “Integrated Financial Partners has the infrastructure and depth of experience to support advisors like me—100% dedicated to adding firm value for my clients while adhering to my entrepreneurial vision.”

All four firms will remain independently branded. Integrated Financial Partners now has more than 100 advisors across 36 regional offices. The firm is on track to surpass last year’s growth by mid-2019.

Robert Sandrew, senior vice president and head of recruiting, said he had interacted with some of these teams before the other IFP announced it was launching its own b/d. “We didn’t go out and do that, call it ‘shotgun approach,’ with all of the IFP advisors, meaning the other IFP advisors, in terms of trying to recruit them in. We wanted to be very focused and disciplined to bring in the right type of advisors,” he said.

Independent Financial Partners announced its plans to separate from LPL and start its own brokerage last April, and the firm is still on track to officially transition advisors over. Its application to launch its own b/d, which it submitted in July, was recently approved by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. The firm has been building out its tech stack in preparation.

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