LPL adds 97 advisors as Northwestern Mutual sheds 64

LPL Financial added 97 advisors in the 30 days through Nov. 2, 57 more than the next-most active platform, according to Private Wealth Daily's Moves Wire. Northwestern Mutual lost 64 advisors over the same period, the most of any firm tracked.

After Northwestern Mutual, UBS shed 48, Raymond James Financial Services 42 and Truist Investment Services 36. On the arrivals side, Ascentis Independent Advisors added 40, Kestra Private Wealth Services 39, and Cetera Planning Partners and RBC Wealth Management 34 each. RBC was the only firm on both lists, gaining 34 while losing 21.

For advisors at firms on the losing side, the first due-diligence question is whether their own book resembles a whole-business sale or a platform move. The moves split by book size: practices with about a dozen staff and $1 billion or more in assets are joining firms that absorb the whole business, while six-advisor teams are moving to platforms. CAPTRUST, Merit and Citizens added whole practices this period, and LPL's Northwestern Mutual additions came as two six-advisor teams.

LPL's largest Northwestern Mutual addition is Anchor Financial Partners, a six-advisor team with about $1 billion in client assets in Seattle. It was founded by Julie Prince and Dave Burnett and includes partners Cade Mossman, Conner Gehring and David DeYoung. A second Northwestern Mutual team, six advisors with $525 million, moved to LPL in the same window, led by Andrew Runnion and Brandon Porter. Northwestern Mutual's 64 departures therefore include at least two multi-advisor teams, not a single exodus.

CAPTRUST added Brett Hoge and a 13-advisor team managing $3 billion. Merit added Brett Moldenhauer's Moldenhauer & Associates, a 12-advisor practice with $1.1 billion. &Partners took Larry Riseling and a five-person team with $357 million from Edward Jones. Edward Jones lost 19 advisors in the period. &Partners gained 23.

Citizens Private Wealth took two teams off bank platforms. Matt Webber and Chris Illiano brought Webber Wealth Partners, $1.2 billion, from Comerica Bank. Eric Bradley's Bradley Wealth Partners, $880 million, came from Citi Private Alternatives. The combined $2.08 billion is roughly double the $1 billion managed by LPL's largest Northwestern Mutual team.

Raymond James & Associates added a three-person team from Truist Investment Services managing $700 million: managing directors Lance Longwater and Christopher "Ryan" Haffey, plus senior registered client service associate Traci Havens. Truist's 36 departures were the fourth-most tracked.

Four independent broker-dealers gave up ground as well. Raymond James Financial Services lost 42, Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network 25, Commonwealth Financial Network 21 and Stifel Independent Advisors 20, a combined 108, more than LPL's 97 arrivals. That tally suggests the independent channel is trading advisors among its own platforms as much as pulling them from employee channels.

The period's largest single transfer was a bank program rather than a team. Ameriprise Financial completed the transition of 258 Huntington Bank advisors with $28 billion in client assets. Unlike the team moves above, this was a bank program changing firms in one block.