In a surprise development, Derek Bruton, managing director of independent advisor services at LPL Financial, has left the firm.
In a filing Friday with the SEC, LPL said it had “permitted Derek Bruton to resign, effective immediately, in light of the Company’s concerns about Mr. Bruton’s interactions with other employees. … The separation was not related to the Company’s performance.”
LPL intends to replace Bruton internally, said LPL spokeswoman Betsy Weinberger.
“We anticipate announcing this new leader by the end of next week,” she said in a statement Friday.
Weinberger declined further comment about Bruton’s departure.
Bruton joined LPL in September 2007 from TD Ameritrade, where he was managing director and national sales manager for TD’s RIA custody business. At LPL, he was put in charge of a group of four broker-dealers LPL had acquired earlier that year from Pacific Life.
In 2009, Bruton was given additional responsibility as national sales manager of independent advisor services, with responsibility for a range of support services for advisors across all the firm’s platforms, including training, business consulting and succession planning. A year later, he was appointed a managing director of the company, the tenth executive to hold that title.
Last year, LPL gave Bruton a small merit-based pay increase, to $400,000 annually, and a $440,000 bonus, well above his target amount, based on earnings growth from advisors, retention rates and recruiting results.
With $1,448,287 in total compensation last year, Bruton was the fifth-highest paid executive officer at the firm.