LPL signs $530 million NPH-firm, Fross & Fross Wealth Management

LPL Financial has retained Fross & Fross Wealth Management, a $530 million firm previously affiliated with SII Investments, a subsidiary of National Planning Holdings. Fross & Fross, located in the The Villages, Fla., is the latest firm to choose between staying with LPL or affiliating with another broker-dealer after LPL bought NPH for $325 million in August. Several of the 3,200 advisers in NPH's four broker-dealer network have already changed affiliations. Commonwealth Financial Network and Securities America are among the firms that have picked off NPH-affiliated firms over the last few months. "We conducted an exhaustive search to make sure our decision was going to be the best one for our clients," said Thomas Fross, the advisory firm's co-founder. In a prepared statement, Mr. Fross said LPL's size, as the nation's largest independent broker-dealer with more than 14,000 advisers, was a positive factor in the decision. "We remain independent but now we have a huge support system behind us," he added.