LPL Financial (LPLA) says Derek Bruton, managing director and head of independent advisor services, retired Friday, after the company expressed "concerns over his interactions with other employees."
In a statement, the independent broker-dealer added that his resignation "was not related to company performance." It plans to fill the post "from a slate of internal leaders" and anticipates "announcing this new leader by the end of next week."
Bruton's exit from LPL's San Diego operations comes just two days after it opened its new headquarters in the La Jolla district of the city. The news of his resignation was made public in an SEC document.
A year ago, Bruton became LPL Financial's representative on the Financial Services Institute's board of directors. LPL Financial tapped him as a managing director in 2010.
LPL Financial serves more than 13,600 independent financial advisors, 4,500 licensed insurance agents and some 700 financial institutions. It has a total of roughly 3,000 employees in San Diego, Boston and Charlotte.
During a call with equity analysts in February, Chairman and CEO Mark Casady explained that the independent broker-dealer is no longer pursuing any plans to form a bank holding company. It is, however, still considering the possibility of acquiring an industrial loan company.
Its stock, which fell 4% on Friday before the announcement of Bruton's exit, is up about 12% so far this year, way ahead of the major equity market indexes.
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