“I don’t see these shuffles as helping,” he said. “If you don’t have a good service story, all the shuffling in the world won’t help.”
Gilchrist said the management change isn’t being driven by recruiting pressures.
Still, LPL management clearly wants to see a pickup in what has been a tepid recruiting environment. Advisors have been sitting tight as the market has rallied. And LPL itself has been dealing with negative publicity from regulatory shortcomings and a number of executive departures over the past few years.
What’s more, with RCS Capital restructuring itself through a bankruptcy process, and with the AIG Advisor Group of broker-dealers reportedly on the block, industry observers expect that more independent reps may be looking for a new home this year.
News of LPL’s management shuffle was reported earlier Thursday by InvestmentNews.