LPL's Mark Casady: Five more years

LPL Investment Holdings Inc. today said it has sealed the deal with the executive who has overseen the company's growth and its march to an IPO. LPL and its chairman and CEO, Mark Casady, 49, said today they reached an agreement to extend Mr. Casady's contract for five years, effective upon the close of the company's proposed initial public offering. On June 4, LPL filed its registration for an IPO with the Securities and Exchange Commission. There is no set date for LPL's IPO, which could raise as much as $600 million. Mr. Casady's total compensation package last year, including salary, bonus and stock options, totaled $3.7 million. In a statement, LPL said his annual compensation will be consistent with past practices. Todd Robinson, LPL's founder and former CEO, groomed Mr. Casady to replace him when Mr. Casady was hired in 2002 as chief operating officer. Mr. Casady became president of LPL in 2003. After Mr. Robinson sold the firm to two private-equity firms in 2005, Mr. Casady became CEO and chairman. According to LPL's IPO registration, Mr. Casady is the largest single executive shareholder of LPL's common stock. He owns 3.9 million shares, or 4.1% of the firm's shares. The two private-equity funds, Hellman & Friedman LLC and TPG Partners IV LP, each own 36.3% of LPL's stock and are the two largest shareholders, At the end of March, LPL's compensation committee gave those shares a fair value of $27.81, meaning Mr. Casady is worth $108.5 million on paper. LPL, which has 12,000 reps and advisers in its network, is the largest independent-contractor broker-dealer in the industry.