Office address: 4707 Executive Drive, San Diego, CA 92121
Website: lpl.com
Year established: 1989
Company type: financial services
Employees: 9,000+
Expertise: wealth management, investment advisory, retirement planning, brokerage services, portfolio management, research, compliance support, technology solutions, institutional services, succession planning
Parent company: LPL Financial Holdings
Key people: Rich Steinmeier (CEO), Matt Audette (CFO), Marc Cohen (chief growth officer), Greg Gates (chief technology and information officer), Emily Field (chief people officer), Matthew Enyedi (chief client officer), Aneri Jambusaria (chief wealth officer)
Financing status: corporation
LPL Financial is a San Diego-based independent wealth management company. The firm has additional offices in Fort Mill, Austin, and Boston. It supports over 28,000 financial advisors and offers investment products, technology, and research tools. The company is known for its flexible business models and broad, non-proprietary investment options.
LPL Financial came to life in 1989 when Linsco and Private Ledger merged to form a new kind of firm. The founders wanted to give independent advisors more support, better technology, and a wide set of investment choices. Their goal was to help advisors serve clients with more freedom and better tools.
The company quickly grew by focusing on advisor independence and client choice. In 2010, LPL formed a political action committee to represent advisors and clients in Washington. This move showed the firm’s commitment to keeping financial advice objective and accessible.
LPL made big moves in the industry by acquiring several firms. In 2017, it bought National Planning Holdings, which added four broker-dealers to its network.
The company also acquired AdvisoryWorld in 2018, bringing new technology for portfolio analytics and modeling. In 2020, LPL expanded further by purchasing E.K. Riley Investments, Lucia Securities, and Blaze Portfolio, adding more advisors and new trading technology.
The company completed its acquisition of Commonwealth Financial Network in 2025. This added around 3,000 advisors and $305 billion in assets. This move brings Commonwealth’s award-winning service culture and improves LPL’s market position.
LPL also welcomed Tennant Financial, a team with $1.3 billion in assets, to its platform in 2025. The group joined from Northwestern Mutual and brought years of experience in serving high-net-worth clients. This move showed LPL’s commitment to holistic planning and advanced technology.
LPL Financial provides many investment and banking solutions for independent advisors and their clients:
LPL Financial is also recognized for its strong research, advisor training, and customizable business models. Advisors benefit from a national network, consultative support, and 24/7 client account access.
According to the company, staff are encouraged to think ahead and focus on customer needs by finding new ways to solve challenges. LPL Financial also highlights a range of benefits for employees:
LPL Financial reports that it values a workplace where different perspectives are respected and welcomed. The firm created a dedicated role to support women advisors and attract more women to its network. It states that diversity and inclusion help strengthen the financial advice profession and its community.
Rich Steinmeier began serving as CEO of the firm since 2024 and previously held leadership roles at the company. Before joining LPL, Steinmeier worked in senior positions at UBS and Merrill Lynch. He earned degrees from Stanford Graduate School of Business and The Wharton School.
The leadership team at LPL Financial brings a range of experience and skills to support the firm’s mission:
These key people at LPL Financial aim to help clients succeed and simplify the advisor experience. Their goal is to let advisors focus on serving clients, not on business complexity.
To help advisors plan for the future and protect their businesses, LPL Financial has launched its Liquidity and Succession program in 2025. The company offers creative solutions like partial book sales and business exit planning, which let advisors focus on clients while optimizing their practice. This approach supports long-term growth for both LPL and its advisors, which makes it more adaptable as the industry changes.
After the company completed its $2.7 billion acquisition of Commonwealth Financial Network, it aimed to keep 90 percent of Commonwealth’s advisors. Although about 5 percent of these advisors left for competitors, LPL continues to focus on retaining top talent. This effort helps provide stability for clients and strengthens the firm’s position in a competitive market.
Invesco Ltd. is likely to keep intact most of the Morgan Stanley/Van Kampen operations <a href= http://www.investmentnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091019/FREE/910199972/1022/ONLINENEWS >which it said last night that it will acquire for $1.5 billion</a> — although some changes to the $119 billion retail money management business it's buying are expected — Martin Flanagan, president and chief executive of Invesco, said in an interview with InvestmentNews.
Upper-income investors are taking advantage of a change in the tax law and rushing to convert their traditional individual retirement accounts or old 401(k) plans into Roth IRAs.
A handful of distributors are seeing a rising tide of wealthy-client assets going into individual retirement accounts.
Adviser Frank Congemi is running radio spots this week lambasting government officials and Wall Street firms for the financial crisis, which he calls the “largest economic crime in history.”
Although the number of brokers who change jobs in 2010 won't approach the level seen during the financial crisis, expect this to be a good year for broker recruiting.
Roland Greco, an adviser, recently wrote me for assistance in dealing with the mountains of paper in his office.
The Dow dropped the most in intraday trading since the market crash of 1987. Was it worries over Greece, or a simple trading mistake that triggered the chaos?
Simplifying and better integrating compliance tasks, improving customer relationship management and developing more-robust portfolio management tools are the top technology concerns among financial advisers affiliated with independent broker-dealers, according to an online survey conducted by <i>InvestmentNews</i> this month.
For the first time in Villere & Co.'s 99-year history, advisers will not be required to wear suits to the office Friday. Instead, reps and other workers from the New Orleans firm will don Saints jerseys in support of their hometown team's Super Bowl appearance Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts.
With anticipation building about its $600 million IPO, LPL Investment Holdings Inc. last week said that it is acquiring the assets of National Retirement Partners Corp., an advisory and brokerage firm that specializes in defined-contribution retirement plans.
The independent broker-dealer industry took a giant step backward last year, with the largest 25 firms collectively reporting a 10.3% drop in gross revenue.
Both large and small financial services firms joined the worldwide effort to relieve the suffering caused by the earthquake in Haiti.
Like everyone else, it seems, many advisers and brokers are atwitter about Twitter, the free social networking utility.
A veteran filed suit Friday against Wells Fargo Advisors for allegedly distributing his book of business to other brokers while he was in the Middle East.
Advisory firms will be focused on building their businesses this year, after spending the last two years just trying to hang on to the clients they have.
