Bill Dwyer, former head of national sales at LPL Financial, has been named CEO of Realty Capital Securities.

Realty Capital Securities (RCS) is a wholesale distributor of non-traded REITS, business development companies and mutual funds. It is part of  RCS Capital Corporation (RCAP), the fast-growing broker-dealer network controlled by Nicholas Schorsch, its executive chairman.

Dwyer spent two decades at LPL Financial in various management roles, but left the firm in early 2013.

In an interview, Dwyer said the new job gave him the challenge he wanted. “While I always worked with manufacturers when I was at LPL, this puts me full bore on the product side,” Dwyer said. “When I looked at the opportunities [in the industry], perhaps the greatest area of growth is in the alternatives space, especially at the retail level” where RCAP is focused.

Dwyer, who remains in his home base of Boston, is filling a role vacated last May by Larry Roth.

Roth, the former CEO of AIG's Advisor Group network of broker-dealers, joined RCS a year ago to run the wholesaling unit. Last May, he was named CEO of Cetera Financial Group and given responsibility for RCAP’s expansive group of broker-dealers.

Dwyer said his first order of business was to get familiar with the 320 firms RCS does business with, then look to expand sales to more independents, wirehouses and RIA firms.

LPL is one of those clients. It offers at least one product distributed through RCS.

“I have great relationships with those folks” at LPL, Dwyer said. “This is a huge opportunity to expand” that relationship.

As for his departure from LPL, Dwyer said that after spending more than 20 years at the firm “it was a great time to pursue different interests.” He continued doing some charity work, and looked at joining some smaller ventures, “but truthfully those [smaller companies] weren’t a good fit for my management skills.”

Upon news of Dwyer’s appointment, some observers wondered if the ex-brokerage heavyweight might end up with a role on RCAP’s retail side.

Will he have any management duties for the retail B-Ds?

“None whatsoever,” Dwyer said.

In another major change announced on Tuesday, Michael Weil, president of RCAP, has been appointed chief executive officer of the organization. He succeeds William Kahane, who will remain a director.

Kahane is the longtime business partner of Schorsch. In 2007, the two men co-founded AR Capital, a major non-traded REIT sponsor.

“My decision to step down as chief executive officer reflects my confidence in our outstanding management team,” Kahane said in a statement.

Dwyer and Weil stressed that the wholesale and retail businesses will remain separate.

“It’s very important to provide conflict-free advice,” Weil said. “We’ve never looked at [the broker-dealer build-out] as a distribution play.”

In January 2014, RCAP punctuated a string of broker-dealer acquisitions by paying $1.1 billion to acquire giant Cetera Financial. Several months later, RCAP replaced Cetera's CEO Valerie Brown with Roth.

Including its recently announced acquisitions of VSR Group and Girard Securities, RCAP now has 9,700 advisors with $236 billion under administration.

With revenues of $417 million, RCAP’s retail advice business accounted for nearly half of its total revenue of $918 million through the first six months of the year. RCS had revenues of $390 million.

But the wholesale business has also been expanding. In May, RCAP agreed to acquire StratCap, another wholesale distributor of alternative investment programs. And in June, RCAP completed its acquisition the Hatteras funds, a group of alternative mutual funds.

RCAP also announced several other executive changes and leadership appointments on Tuesday.

John Grady has been named chief strategy and risk officer of RCAP. He will oversee the risk functions associated with the retail and wholesale distribution businesses and supervise all compliance and risk management programs across the business. Previously, Grady held various executive management positions at RCAP and AR Capital, where he is currently serving as president of National Fund Advisors, an institutional asset manager and registered investment advisor.

Sanjay Yodh has been appointed executive vice president of RCAP liquid alternative investments and will be responsible for overseeing the sales strategy. Yodh also has executive management responsibility at AR Capital and was recently appointed chief operating officer of National Fund Advisors. Previously, Yodh was head of institutional sales at ProShares.