LPL reported record adjusted earnings per share for the second quarter, alongside a rebound in advisor recruiting that executives say positions the firm for stronger organic growth in the second half of 2026.
The San Diego-based broker-dealer said net income reached $379 million, or $4.74 per diluted share, up 39% from a year earlier. Adjusted earnings per share rose 29% year-over-year to $5.84 – a company record – on gross profit of $1.618 billion, up 24% from the same period last year.
Recruited assets totaled $25 billion for the quarter, up 35% from a year ago and, according to statements made by executives on the earnings call, the strongest recruiting quarter in nearly two years when large institutional wins are excluded.
CEO Richard Steinmeier told analysts on the call that advisor movement industry-wide had returned closer to historical norms during the quarter, which he said benefited LPL disproportionately given its existing share of advisors changing firms.
"In our traditional markets, we added approximately $23 billion in assets during Q2, maintaining our industry leading capture of advisers in motion, while continuing to expand the depth and breadth of our recruiting pipeline," Steinmeier said. "With respect to our expanded affiliation models, we delivered another solid quarter recruiting roughly $2 billion in assets."
With respect to the closely watched integration of Commonwealth, he said the process is "progressing well," wth asset retention "in the mid-80s" as the firm continues to work towards its ambitious target of retaining 90% of client assets.
"In parallel, we are ramping up our training efforts to ensure that our Commonwealth teammates are positioned to continue delivering exceptional service to existing Commonwealth advisers," Steinmeier said.
Estimated run-rate EBITDA from the deal has increased to approximately $435 million, up from a prior estimate of $410 million, executives said.
LPL expects its institutional pipeline to reopen meaningfully after it completes the Commonwealth project. According to LPL President and CFO Matt Audette, the firm had to pause its consideration of large opportunities in the institutional channel as it focused on the Commonwealth transition.
"As we move towards being on the other side of that and finishing our capability build, it opens up our ability to continue to progress pipeline in the institutional channel with opportunities to onboard them," Audette told analysts on the call.
Steinmeier noted that the institutions LPL already serves collectively support $590 billion in client assets within their wealth businesses, which he said was several multiples ahead of the firm's nearest competitor.
LPL also closed its acquisition of Mariner Advisor Network, an LPL branch office supporting 367 advisors managing a combined $31 billion in client assets. Of that group, roughly 223 advisors remain directly affiliated with LPL, while about 144 hybrid advisors moved to Private Advisor Group's hybrid registered investment advisor model, the company said.
Total client assets across the firm rose 34% year-over-year to $2.6 trillion; advisory assets climbed to a record share of total client assets, now accounting for 60.4% compared to 55.3% a year earlier.
Executives linked the recruiting momentum to recent technology announcements, including the launch of Latitude, a unified advisor platform, and Cyan, an artificial-intelligence agent designed to automate routine account maintenance and surface growth opportunities for advisors. Audette said LPL's AI-driven efficiency work runs the gamut from advisor-facing tools to internal back-office operations, as well as the firm's own in-house technology development process.
"The coding and the tech builds itself, where we are already seeing the ability to not only build things much cheaper than they were historically, but build them at a faster pace," he said.
While Audette said LPL achieved "solid improvement in organic growth" during the second quarter – total organic net new assets came in at $23 billion, an annualized growth rate of 4%.– he also acknowledged share repurchases accelerated past what the frm's original quarterly plan provided for after a dislocation in LPL's stock price.On that note, LPL's board signed off on a new $2.5 billion share repurchase authorization ths month, and the firm now expects to repurchase approximately $300 million of stock in the third quarter.
The company also lowered its full-year 2026 core general and administrative expense outlook to a range of $2.14 billion to $2.165 billion, citing efficiency gains that came in ahead of expectations.
Arch claims 40% operating cost savings for Mercer as Nitrogen unlocks its agentic AI and tech suite to 10,000 Osaic advisors
A happy coincidence: one of LPL Financial’s corporate campuses happens to be based in Rep.-elect Wes Climer’s new district.
Wells Fargo and UBS also add advisors from Morgan Stanley, Edward Jones, Merrill and Fidelity in a fresh round of wirehouse recruiting
How we got here – and what to do about it
AI trust gap: Americans want protection, not autonomy, in their finances
Knighthead Life entered the market with a competitive MYGA. A strong launch earned advisor confidence and paved the way for FIAs.
As AI makes financial information more accessible than ever, Lana Hock explains why human judgment, trust, and empathy remain the qualities clients value most in a financial advisor
