Jim Putnam returns to LPL as chairman of the board

James "Jim" Putnam, a key architect in the 1980s and 1990s to building LPL Financial and overseeing its tremendous growth, has returned to the company as full-time chairman of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. Considered by many to be LPL founder Todd Robinson's right-hand man, Mr. Putnam, 62, has been on LPL's board since 2005 and was most recently lead director. Mr. Putnam joined LPL — called Private Ledger at the time — in 1983 when it was a small, privately held company. He was chiefly responsible for marketing and recruiting at the firm. Ultimately, he became managing director of national sales, responsible for branch development and attraction, retention and management of LPL's financial advisers. Mr. Robinson sold a majority stake of LPL to private-equity investors in 2005. Five years later, the company had its initial public offering on the Nasdaq. Senior management at LPL has been in flux since December, when longtime chairman and CEO Mark Casady said he was retiring. Former chief financial officer and president Dan Arnold replaced Mr. Casady at the start of January. Mr. Casady remained as non-executive chairman through March 3. "Jim's service to the company spans five different CEOs and five different ownership structures, which gives him an amazing historical perspective," Mr. Arnold wrote in an email Wednesday morning to LPL's 14,000 advisers. "In fact, having access to Jim's deep knowledge and expertise is a huge asset for me as a CEO. I am constantly learning from him and value his insights and instincts." One recruiter who has known Mr. Putnam for decades said his return to the firm as chairman was extremely positive for LPL. "Jim has been in the business for a long time and understands the independent-contractor brokerage space better than anybody I know," said Larry Papike, president of Cross-Search, a third-party recruiting firm. "He has the best interests of LPL's advisers and employees at heart. He was one of the people who were instrumental in getting LPL to where it is today."