Atria Wealth founders to leave LPL Financial 14 months after acquisition

It was February 2024 that InvestmentNews shared the news that LPL Financial had acquired Atria Wealth Solutions, a $100 billion AUM firm with 2,400 advisors, led by Morgan Stanley veteran Doug Ketterer.

Fourteen months later and Ketterer, along with co-founder Eugene Elias, have announced that their eight year “incredible journey” since launching Atria in 2017 is coming to an end in the next few months.

In a letter to employees and clients, the duo said that the last year has been a busy one as they prepared to move to LPL, but also a time to reflect on what they say has been “an experience unlike any other in our careers.”

Ketterer, whose career at Morgan Stanley spanned 25 years and included various roles in investment banking, product development, strategy, and wealth management where he held senior roles over a 13 year period; will leave Atria at the end of this month.

Elias, who is COO of Atria, will remain with the firm until the end of June. He was also with Morgan Stanley for many years, beginning in 1998 as the strategic services group within the wealth management team, before spending three years as chief information officer in the wealth management group at Zions Bancorporation’s Contango Capital Advisors, and later returning to Morgan Stanley before co-founding Atria.

In their statement, they pay tribute to all those who have help create “something truly special” that serves as a foundation for them to continue to thrive at LPL.

“We are so very proud and honored to have had the opportunity to work with all the employees, financial professionals and programs at the great firms comprising Atria – CUSO Financial, Sorrento Pacific Financial, Cadaret Grant, NEXT Financial, Western International Securities, SCF Securities, and Grove Point Financial,” the statement said.

LPL has been on the acquisition trail recently, with its purchase of Commonwealth Financial Network for $2.7 billion and agreement to acquire First Horizon’s broker-dealer business. Rich Steinmeier, CEO of LPL Financial Holdings Inc., shared recently how the deal to buy Commonwealth emerged following an email he sent to its owner and chairman Joe Deitch.