LPL Financial said it closed down its mass-market NestWise business unit on Sept. 1 to save costs. The independent broker-dealer launched the program, led by LPL veterans Esther Stearns and Kandis Bates, last year. It aimed to recruit and train new financial advisors and explore direct-to-consumer operations for middle-market clients.
"The NestWise program was extremely valuable in terms of developing workflow technologies and learning about advisor development and training," the company, which is headed by Mark Casady, said in a statement. "However, LPL Financial believes financial resources earmarked for NestWise can be more effectively deployed in other areas of the business and will be redeployed into our core business consulting activities for both advisors and institutions for training development."
The business initially was called LPL New Venture. Stearns, the former president and COO of LPL, was tapped to lead it in the spring of 2012. At the same time, Bates, who led the IBD's communications operations, became the unit's chief administrative officer.