Increased advisor productivity coupled with rising asset levels propelled LPL Financial Holdings to its first billion-dollar quarter, as revenues climbed 12.2 percent to $1.02 billion from the same period last year. Net income was rose 14.1 percent to $45.1 million.

“To sustain this trajectory across market cycles, we are committed to investing in our business to enhance simplicity, increase loyalty and support the growth of our advisors,” LPL Financial CEO Mark Casady said. “To advance this commitment, we have focused on blending senior leaders who have grown and evolved with LPL with the perspective and experience of management from outside LPL who bring an established track record  of managing through change and introducing innovation in large complex organizations.”

LPL Financial’s CFO Dan Arnold explained that the way the brokerage firm’s model works in a rising market environment is that low double-digit revenue growth translates into high double-digit EBITDA growth of 17.4 percent. When the firm’s share repurchase program of 1.4 million shares bought back for $52.8 million is factored into the mix, earnings per share advanced 25 percent to 61 cents a share from the same period last year.

The company raised its dividend 40 percent to 19 cents a share. It also invested $18 million in capital spending.

A favorable market environment has also resulted in a slowdown in recruiting for LPL and most other firms. In the second quarter of 2013, it added 32 net new advisors. Discovery Database ranked LPL as the top recruiting independent brokerage in the first quarter, when it recruited 25 advisors. For the sake of comparison, LPL recruited 505 net new advisors. Arnold reported the pipeline of leads is up 8.5 percent from a year ago, indicating advisors are looking to move but that good times are prompting them to reprioritize and focus on growth.

This trend was reflect in average commissions per advisor, which have climbed about 14 percent to $152,000 on an annualized basis, up from $132,000 in last year’s third quarter. Advisory assets on LPL’s fee-based platforms were up 18.9 percent from a year ago to $132.4 billion.