LPL Financial continues to track teams from firms undergoing major acquisitions and integrations, snapping up a previously $170 million team from Avantax before it merged with Cetera.
He also picked up a $250 million team from Osaic earlier this week, continuing a multi-month streak 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 the team, knowing there is stability in the associated partner.
In September last year, Cetera announced that it will acquire Avantax, a tax-focused wealth management firm (formerly Blucora), in an all-cash sale for $1.2 billion. The deal took Avantax private, delisting it from Nasdaq and making it a stand-alone business within Cetera.
Cetera Holdings CEO Mike Durbin said the deal will strengthen Cetera's succession planning program. Avantax shareholders approved the move in late November last year, and the firms closed the deal less than a week later.
However, some Avantax advisers expressed anxiety about the change; a flash survey of Avantax advisors conducted by WealthManagement.com when the deal was announced it was revealed that around half were considering switching firms because of 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 was rebranded as 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, NY 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 technology options.
“My staff will appreciate the ease of doing business with LPL's integrated platform and no doubt my clients will appreciate being able to access an online portal to view all of their account information,” he said.
LPL has been the destination for many teams that have chosen to leave Osaic following the firm's integration of eight b/ds advisory groups – US Portfolios, FSC Securities, Infinex Investments, Royal Alliance Associates, SagePoint Financial, Securities America, Triad Advisors and Woodbury Financial Services.
Osaic also closed the deal to buy Lincoln Financial's $115 billion wealth business earlier this year, planning to include more than 1,400 advisers. In the wake of these changes, several former Advisor Group and Lincoln teams are leaving for other firms, including LPL.
This includes Financial Pilot, a broad network of 105 advisors with $4.6 billion in assets under management, which elected to transfer its business to LPL from Lincoln Financial shortly after the deal was completed. The NC-based business was founded in 2001 and was affiliated with Lincoln until switching to LPL. In February, the firm added the $520 million Wisconsin-based Equity Design Group, formerly associated with SagePoint (another legacy Advisory Group firm).