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LPL Financial sign in San Diego

Industry Spotlight > Switching Firms

LPL Adds $4.6B Lincoln Team, $705M Merrill Duo

By Janet Levaux

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LPL Financial says a group of 105 advisors working with $4.6 billion assets has moved to its independent channel from Lincoln Financial, and two advisors formerly working with $705 million of assets at Merrill Lynch have moved to its high-net-worth-focused employee channel.

Pilot Financial, which formerly worked with Lincoln, is based in Greensboro, North Carolina.

“We are looking to grow our network thoughtfully and believe that working with LPL puts us on a better trajectory to attract like-minded, quality advisors to Pilot Financial,” Greg Smith, a managing partner, said in a statement.

Pilot Financial’s roots go back to the turn of the century when three small firms — Pilot Life Insurance, Lincoln National Life Insurance and Jefferson Standard Life Insurance — began growing their respective businesses.

The combined firm was founded in 2001 after a series of mergers “to support independent advisors with strategic planning, coaching, compliance and administrative assistance to help them succeed,” according to a statement.

In addition, the team expects the move to LPL “will greatly enhance our ability to service accounts more effectively, resulting in more convenience for clients and easy account access at their fingertips,” partner and manager Chris Roney explained in a statement. 

The Merrill Move

Separately, advisors Alain Verhille — a certified financial planner and certified plan fiduciary advisor — and James S. Wood recently joined LPL’s HNW-focused employee affiliation model, LPL Private Wealth Management. They have worked with about $705 million in assets and plan to do business as Auctus Legacy Private Wealth Management in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

“It took us two years of due diligence as we analyzed a lot of companies to find the right fit,” Verhille said in a statement. “LPL provides us with a dedicated team and white glove service while giving us access to help on the financial planning side of our business. … LPL checked all the boxes.”

LPL, which launched its private wealth channel in November 2023, said this week that it has “a $30+ billion AUM prospective advisor pipeline for the model.” As of March 31, the firm worked with 22,884 advisors and total client assets of $1.44 trillion.

Janet Levaux

@Think_JanetL

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