Wells Fargo plucks top recruiter from LPL

Wells Fargo Advisors continues to add to its team of senior executives focused on building its independent financial advisor business line, this week hiring a new head of recruiting from leading rival LPL Financial.

Farhad Firoozi is Wells Fargo Advisors’ new head of advisor recruiting, starting on Tuesday, according to a statement from the company. Most recently, he was a senior vice president, business development, at LPL. 

Firoozi is the latest in a long line of senior executives Wells Fargo Advisors has hired from rivals as it transforms itself into the only Wall Street wirehouse with a platform for independent brokers and RIAs.

It’s more profitable for firms like Wells Fargo to work with advisors who are employees rather than independent brokers or registered investment advisors. But embarrassing banking troubles from the last decade have pushed Wells Fargo to reevaluate its advisor strategy because it was loosing hundreds of veteran advisors to competitors or retirement.  

Last month, Wells Fargo & Co.’s wealth and investment management group, which oversees Wells Fargo Advisors, said it hired Megan Hausmann as a lead recruiter for its RIA Solutions group. Hausman most recently worked at Apex Clearing Corp.

Firoozi started in the securities industry at LPL in 2006 and then left in 2008 only to return to LPL in 2010, according to his BrokerCheck profile. He stayed for six years before jumping to Ameriprise Financial Services Inc. but only for two years before moving back to LPL in 2018.

LPL is the leading recruiter of financial advisors in the industry right now and scored a significant win this week with its purchase of leading rival Commonwealth Financial Network for $2.7 billion in cash.

Wells Fargo Advisors, with close to 12,000 financial advisors, appears poised to have a successful year recruiting financial advisors, according to one recent industry report.

“Merrill Lynch and Wells Fargo currently offer two of the most aggressive recruiting deals on the street, and this is the first time since 2017 that all four major wirehouses are back in the game of competitive recruiting,” according to the report, which was published last month by Diamond Consultants and is titled “Financial Advisor Transition Report.”.

“More demand from deep-pocketed firms and investors eager to enter the space only serves to push deals higher or, at a minimum, keep them at current record levels,” according to the report.  

“Merrill’s reputation has suffered among top advisors in recent years due to the perceived “bankification” of the firm, and Wells Fargo similarly has experienced diminished brand perception from clients and advisors alike, however both firms appear to be turning the page on advisor recruitment,” according to the report.  

“Case in point, these two firms are paying top dollar to win recruits, and initial data from late 2024 and early 2025 indicates that these aggressive deals, coupled with platform enhancements, have led to some significant competitive recruiting wins,” according to the report.

Firoozi reports to James Craven, head of national sales and advisor and client experience at Wells Fargo Advisors.

“As more advisors choose independence in our industry, we’re thrilled to bring on Farhad with his level of expertise in that space,” Craven said in a statement.

Industry news website AdvisorHub first reported Wells Fargo Advisors hiring Firoozi.