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.
It’s only nine in the morning on this late-July day, but Tom Ensign’s white dress shirt is already blotted with dark circles of perspiration. Mr. Ensign, president and chief executive of Provest Management Group, is standing on a football field under a blazing-hot sun, which still is rising in a cloudless blue sky. The pungent smell of earth and grass hangs languidly in the hot, thick air.
The biggest B-D is buying Independent Financial Marketing Group from Sun Life Financial.
MSC is the subject of a complaint by FINRA concerning the firm's allegedly shoddy VA bookkeeping.
Independent-contractor broker-dealers and their registered representatives face pressure on all fronts, from recruiting and proper practice management to compliance and the best way to build up their businesses.
In order to take on the big boys of the independent broker-dealer market, some growing middle-tier firms are offering souped-up compensation packages in place of or along with big upfront checks.
Armed with a series of fee cuts and reimbursements to its advisers, LPL Financial Services thinks that it can take on the giants of the custody business that provide platforms for fee-only registered investment advisers.
For the second consecutive year, LPL Financial Services is giving a bump to its bigger-producing registered reps.
After building businesses through fee-based brokerage accounts and mutual fund trail fees, many brokers are anxious about looming changes to these sources of revenue.
NEW YORK — Despite continued consolidation, the clearing industry in some ways is becoming more crowded, with increased competition for the clearing business of top independent-contractor broker-dealers.
In an effort to charge up its top registered representatives and financial advisers, Raymond James Financial Services Inc. is giving bonuses to its biggest-producing brokers.
Faced with intense competition for financial advisers and growing transition costs, an increasing number of independent-contractor broker-dealers over the past year have boosted the amount of money they give to representatives and advisers to switch firms.
Inheriting a depleted recruiting staff, the new head of National Planning Corp. immediately will focus on rebuilding that team. Last Monday, Santa Monica, Calif.-based NPC said that Scott Romine was replacing M. Shawn Dreffein as its CEO.
LPL Financial Services is playing hardball. Officials at the firm reportedly made it clear to competitor National Planning Holdings Inc. that it needs to step away from recruiting registered representatives from Pacific Life Insurance Co. or it will face consequences.
Raymond James Financial Services Inc. is adding major clout to its recruiting effort, bringing on board half a dozen recruiters, including two top executives from rival independent-contractor firms, investmentnews.com reported Friday.
While advisers want their separately managed accounts made available on unified managed account systems, SMA managers fear that that will result in a loss of control over how their products are marketed.
