Charlotte, N.C.-based LPL Financial announced on Thursday that a $1.1 billion hybrid firm has joined both its broker/dealer and RIA platforms from National Planning Corporation.
Joining LPL is Discovery Financial Centers Inc., a Red Wing, Minn., advisory practice founded and led by Doug Ritter. Ritter will continue as president and CEO of the firm and is joined by partners Tim Kelly and Matt Hardyman. The firm focuses on retirement planning and holistic financial planning.
Discovery Financial’s former broker-dealer, National Planning Corporation, was the largest of four broker-dealer subsidiaries of National Planning Holdings, the broker-dealer network sold to LPL by Jackson National in a deal announced in August 2017. Discovery would have transferred automatically onto LPL’s platform as part of the transaction.
The deal occurs as outgoing NPH advisors are faced with deciding their futures—whether to continue on as affiliates with LPL, move to different broker-dealers, leave the broker-dealer channel or leave the industry entirely. Complicating matters, Finra has approved block transfers of NPH accounts only for advisors moving to LPL, leaving registered reps and advisors who elect not to go to LPL with a longer and more difficult transition process.
In Discovery Financial’s case, the move to LPL was an active choice by the firm’s leadership, said Ritter in a statement.
“When the acquisition of NPC was announced, we went in search of a firm that would be the right cultural fit and provide the products, services, technology and expertise to best meet the needs of our advisors and their wide range of business styles and practices,” said Ritter. “We were extremely impressed by LPL and appreciated the firm’s size, scale, financial stability and the relationships we developed. Out of the discovery process, it became clear LPL was going to be an opportunity for us.”
As of October 31, LPL Financial served $566 billion in brokerage and advisory assets, serving 14,000 advisors and 700 financial institutions.