LPL welcomes back $535M boomerang team from Wells Fargo

LPL has regained some ground in the competitive New Jersey market as it welcomes back a veteran advisory team from Wells Fargo.

On Thursday, the firm announced the return of Harbor Lights Financial Group to its broker-dealer, RIA, and custodial platforms.

Harbor Lights, which reportedly oversaw approximately $535 million in advisory, brokerage, and retirement plan assets, has moved from FiNet, Wells Fargo's independent broker-dealer network, back to LPL.

Based in Manasquan, New Jersey, Harbor Lights Financial Group was established in 1994 by Doug Lockwood, Rob Tendler, and Ken Roberts. The veteran trio focuses on providing strategic investment advice, customized planning, and high-touch service to help clients achieve financial freedom.

The team has a history of assisting employees of large companies with retirement planning and has since expanded into the high-net-worth sector.

Apart from Lockwood, Tendler, and Roberts, the group includes advisors David Scureman and Jonathan Shippee, along with COO Steve Catapano and five support staff members.

Lockwood, who’s shared his expertise widely as a public speaker and contributor to major news outlets, says the team “[specializes] in developing detail-focused plans designed to help clients accumulate, preserve and transfer wealth throughout all market cycles.”

Since they parted ways with LPL in May 2016, the Harbor Lights team has observed the firm’s evolution and now believes it has transformed significantly into the best partner for their future endeavors.

“As independent advisors, we want to be in the best possible place so we can continue to serve our clients at the highest level,” Lockwood said in a statement Thursday. “LPL and its leaders are putting in hard work and significant investments into a platform of the future.”

The team was also attracted to LPL's liquidity and capital resources, which they believe will help them ensure the longevity of their practice for the next generation of advisors.

“I genuinely feel that the people at LPL care about what happens to us and our clients, from President and CEO Dan Arnold to Chief Growth Officer Rich Steinmeier, all the way down to the transition and service folks we work with daily,” Lockwood said.

The news of Harbor Lights’ return to LPL comes on the heels of another high-level recruitment move, in which a $725 million advisor from Bank of America Private Bank joined LPL Private Wealth Management, LPL’s high-net-worth independent employee advisor unit, in Texas.