LPL snags $1.5B advisor team from Kestra

The king of independent brokerages has struck again on the recruiting battlefield. 

LPL Financial added a team of financial advisors reporting around $1.5 billion of assets under management from rival Kestra, according to a press release on Monday. The team, formerly known as Watermark Wealth Strategies, is now Watermark Wealth Management and joins LPL's broker-dealer, RIA and custodial platforms, LPL said in the release. 

The team cited LPL's perceived "stability" as one of the reasons for the move, which comes as debt-laden Kestra has unloaded some of its wealth management advisory business. 

Read more: Kestra's debt is soaring. How will that affect its advisor recruiting?

In April, Kestra announced the sale of Grove Point Financial, a practice with around $15 billion of client assets at the time, to Atria Wealth Solutions. By contrast, LPL announced soaring profits in the second quarter, projecting financial strength on the recruiting marketplace.  

Watermark, a firm with 16 advisors and 12 support staff members, was founded in 2009 during the financial crisis by advisors who were "looking to share resources in an independent environment," the press release said. The team originally joined Kestra in 2016. It operates in Scottsdale, Chandler and Payson, Arizona, and in Minneapolis. 

"We wish the Watermark team great success and appreciated the opportunity to serve their business," Kestra said in an emailed statement Monday. 

LPL's scale and support for advisor practice growth were also important as factors in the move, the release said — in particular, "the ability to grow their practice on their own terms and attract new advisors to their team environment." 

Read more: LPL study: How advisors can triple revenue from $1M to $3M

Specifically, LPL's reputation for innovation in products for advisors was appealing to the team. 

"LPL heavily invests in technology enhancements and other integrated capabilities with open architecture, making it seamless to operate several programs without having to jump into different systems," Aaron Gordon, a member of the leadership team at Watermark, said in a statement. 

"These capabilities will empower our team to work more efficiently and also create enhanced experiences for our clients since all their account information will be aggregated into one portal."

UPDATE
Read our in-depth coverage: How LPL finally scored a $1.5B team from Kestra