At LPL this week, some come, some go

It's been an up and down recruiting week for LPL Financial LLC. The company announced Wednesday that it had recruited 24 advisers, with almost $500 million in client assets, from the Delaware Valley Financial Group LLC of Conshohocken, Pa. Those advisers most recently were with Financial Network Investment Corp., part of the Cetera Financial Group of broker-dealers. Jason Hron, a spokesman for Cetera, did not immediately respond to a phone a call seeking comment. Meanwhile, a couple of LPL's rivals have picked off LPL advisers. Also on Wednesday, FSC Securities Corp., part of Advisor Group, a network owned by insurer American International Group Inc., said it had recruited two LPL advisers in Chicago, Eric Burton and Ron Whittingham, who control $250 million in assets under management. On Monday, Raymond James Financial Services Inc. said two ex-LPL advisers, with $40 million in assets, had joined RJFS, the independent brokerage arm of Raymond James Financial Inc. Matt Lawson and William Winchester of Chattanooga, Tenn., left LPL on June 29 and are also acquiring the Winchester, Tenn., practice of Raymond James adviser John Goodson, bringing their total in assets under management to $140 million. LPL recently has had success recruiting in large groups of reps and advisers, having pulled in two giants, Bridgeworth Financial LLC of Birmingham, Ala., with $1 billion in assets under management, and Advantage Financial Group of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with about $2 billion, in August. Bill Morrissey, LPL's executive vice president of business development, declined to comment about reps leaving the firm but said he was delighted that the Delaware Valley Financial Group was joining LPL. “Big groups like Delaware Valley are looking for financial stability and (the broker-dealer's) ability to invest in the technology platform and give them the ability to grow their practices,” Mr. Morrissey said. “Advisers see the industry shrinking but want to grow their businesses. The recruiting market is unique right now because we are seeing these large groups of producers make moves, not just individual advisers.”