LPL Financial announced today that it would move its UVEST Financial Services Group onto its self-clearing platform. UVEST, which LPL acquired in 2007, runs bank and credit union investment programs. UVEST previously had relied on its own internal platform and Pershing & Co. as its clearing firm.
The consolidation is expected to begin in June and be completed by year-end. UVEST will remain part of the existing LPL Financial Institutions division, which claims to be the largest provider of third-party investment services to banks and credit unions.
Dan Arnold, managing director and president of the financial institutions unit, says feedback from the various banks and credit unions they serve indicated they wanted access to the LPL platform. Many of the new advisors that his financial institutions unit had recruited since the 2007 acquisition already were on the LPL platform.
Of the 2,300 advisors in the financial institutions business, 70% are affiliated with banks and the rest with credit unions. About 500 of those advisors are with UVEST and 90% of them are affiliated banks.
Arnold says the entire UVEST leadership team will remain in place. Some jobs may be eliminated, but Arnold adds that if that happens LPL will try to find these employees alternative options within other LPL units.
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LPL Consolidates UVEST |
