LPL Financial is acquiring The Investment Center, a NJ-based firm with about $9 billion in brokerage and advisory assets, independent b/de announced today.
LPL intends to close and convert the Investment Center acquisition in the first half of 2025.
“This acquisition is a milestone that reflects our commitment to excellence over the past 35 years,” said Investment Center President and CEO Ralph DeVito. “At Investment Center, we have always prioritized the success and empowerment of our advisors, and through LPL Financial, we will increase our ability to support them with access to even more powerful resources and solutions.”
Berkshire Global Advisors was the lead financial advisor to the Investment Center on the deal, while Seward & Kissel LLP was the firm's legal advisor.
The Investment Center, founded in 1986, is located in Bedminster, NJ. It supports approximately 240 advisors with back-office support needs, investment tools and technology, as well as several non-proprietary products for financial advisors nationwide. Signature at the top WealthManagement.com's IBD Report Card 2015 among small firms scoring a perfect 10. (The firm had about $6.1 billion in assets under management at the time.)
Both firms were introduced during LPL's February announcement of its ongoing acquisition $100 billion Atria Wealth Solutions. This transaction is expected to close in the second half of this year, with Atria advisors fully converted to LPL's platform by mid-2025.
As part of that acquisition, Atria is moving its brokerage and advisory assets stored under several b/ds to LPL's platform, including those focused on banks and credit unions. Five supporting advisers (Cadaret Grant, NEXT Financial Group, SCF Securities, Western International Securities and Grove Point Financial) will also relocate.
The initial price of the Atria deal is $805 million. It was structured as an equity buyout, and LPL expects to finance it through a mix of cash and debt (entry and integration costs are estimated at between $300 million and $350 million).
LPL's other significant acquisitions this year, in addition to Atria and The Investment Center, include two multibillion-dollar teams that left Lincoln Financial after Osaic bought Lincoln's $115 billion wealth business.
Lutherville, Md.-based Academy Financial and Berwyn, Pa.-based firm PFG Advisors left Osaic to join LPL last month (the two firms collectively managed about $4 billion). In addition, LPL acquired Pilot Financial$4.6 billion with 105 advisors, from Osaic. The former Lincoln team was based in Greensboro, NC, and joined LPL as a supervisory jurisdiction office.
In recent months, LPL (along with many other firms) has been named as a defendant in several lawsuits seeking a class action, alleging that the firm's money laundering policies violate its responsibilities to its advisory clients.
Although several other firms (including Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo) have indicated they are rethinking fees for customers on sweepstakes accounts, LPL CEO Dan Arnold said the firm no “no plans” to change its pricing for cash solutions, including its cash laundering programs.