$36B credit union IBD to move to LPL in firm’s latest massive win

After two massive bank-channel recruiting wins for LPL Financial this year, the No. 1 independent broker-dealer has reeled in an even larger one for next year.

CUNA Brokerage Services, which is the wealth management arm of insurer and financial services firm CUNA Mutual Group, plans to move to LPL’s Institution Services Platform in early 2022, the firm said June 14. The Madison, Wisconsin-based wealth manager spans 300 credit unions with more than 550 financial advisors and $36 billion in client assets.

If the listed numbers of advisors and assets for CUNA Brokerage transition completely to LPL, it would almost certainly be the largest recruiting move in the IBD sector in 2022.

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Since President Rob Comfort joined CUNA Brokerage from LPL in 2017, the wealth manager’s ranks have expanded 38% to its current headcount, up from 400, according to the firm. It will rebrand to the name Cuna Mutual Group Financial Advisors in coming months as it migrates to LPL’s BD, RIA and custodial services. The two huge bank-channel grabs to LPL this year, BMO Harris and M&T Bank, are bringing roughly 285 advisors and $35 billion in client assets.

“By combining CUNA Mutual Group’s expertise in client experience and data-driven strategic consultation for credit unions and advisors with LPL’s leading platform, we will deliver an advisor and customer experience unique to the credit union industry,” Comfort said in a statement. “We are committed to helping more consumers make financial decisions that work for them, and we will continue to build, buy or partner to do so.”

LPL’s Institution Services works with more than 2,500 advisors and 800 banks and credit unions, according to its latest annual report, which doesn’t include the total after BMO Harris Financial Advisors completed its move in March. In addition to its bank poaching, LPL added a net 909 advisors in the past 12 months to reach a record 17,672 at the end of the first quarter.

“CUNA Mutual Group is a leader in its market, and it’s an honor to have the opportunity to support their business,” Rich Steinmeier, LPL Financial’s divisional president of business development. “We look forward to supporting them in growing their capacity to serve a marketplace with an increasing demand for personalized advice.”

Like the previous FINRA BrokerCheck and SEC Form ADV disclosures for BMO Harris and M&T Bank, those of CUNA Brokerage’s BD and its RIA list BNY Mellon’s Pershing as their clearing firm and custodian. The RIA has $3.03 billion in assets under management, and its overall client assets include $4.4 billion on third-party asset management platforms.

In an email, representatives for CUNA Brokerage said that, pending the required regulatory approvals, the firm plans to drop its retail BD but keep a limited-purpose entity to use with distribution of annuity products, move to LPL's corporate RIA and use LPL as its custodian.

Representatives for Pershing didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Besides often being confused with the Credit Union National Association trade group, CUNA Brokerage’s parent may be better known to the wealth management industry as an annuity issuer under the name CMFG Life Insurance. As the No. 16 variable contract writer for 2020, CMFG generated $1.17 billion in sales, according to the LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute.

The move to LPL awaits FINRA approval, and the wealth manager plans to continue distributing its parents’ products after the migration.