LPL Financial Holdings Inc. on Monday morning said it was acquiring Commonwealth Financial Network, a long-standing rival in the wealth management industry.
The price tag? LPL is paying $2.7 billion in cash for its rival.
The two former competitors for decades have fought over teams of financial advisors looking for a new place to work, with Commonwealth, a boutique, pitching its technology and service, and LPL, a behemoth, pitching its size and deep pockets.
The deal has been the chatter of the financial advice industry for the last week, with many Commonwealth advisors in disbelief about no longer working with a boutique.
“I’m taking a moment to pause and reflect and wait to hear what the future looks like at LPL before making any determination what’s going to happen with my clients,” said one Commonwealth advisor, who spoke confidentially to InvestementNews about the transaction.
Commonwealth Financial Network was opened in 1979 by Joseph Deitch, one of the most widely respected senior executives in the independent contractor broker-dealer industry.
A closely held private partnership, the firm now works with 2,900 financial advisors, who managed $285 billon in client assets and are routinely among the top producing advisors in terms of annual revenue for independent brokers.
LPL is a behemoth, and works with 29,000 financial advisors and $1.7 trillion in client assets. LPL has been looking to work with higher revenue producing financial advisors, and those at Commonwealth fit that bill.
LPL Financial is an acquisition machine, completing deals to purchase several large broker-dealers in the past several years. Meanwhile, Commonwealth Financial has been the object of industry speculation that it was seeking an outside investor to pay off the senior partners, some of whom have worked at Commonwealth for more than 30 years.
The announcement of the deal Monday morning made no mention of any remuneration to Commonwealth’s financial advisors; payments to financial advisors involved in such transactions are commonly dubbed “stay bonuses.”
Commonwealth will retain its brand as part of LPL, according to the announcement.
“Commonwealth is respected throughout our industry as a standard-bearer for service excellence, and their commitment to the success of their advisors is embedded in all aspects of their business,” said Rich Steinmeier, LPL Financial chief executive officer, in the announcement.
“We’ve been diligent in finding a partner that shares our mission of prioritizing advisor needs above all else,” said Deitch in the announcement. “LPL became the logical choice for our next chapter.”
Deitch will assume an advisory role to LPL’s board of directors through the conversion.
Commonwealth CEO Wayne Bloom will join LPL’s management committee and report to Steinmeier.
The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2025, and the conversion to the LPL platform is expected to be completed in mid-2026, subject to regulatory approvals and other conditions.
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