LPL loses another top team to Cetera

A big-ticket advising team has left LPL Financial, the nation’s largest independent broker-dealer, to join Cetera Advisor Networks.

The advisors making the switch come from Alliant Retirement Consulting, a three-person, geographically dispersed team reported to manage billions in client assets.

Vice president James Laschinger, practicing in Alpharetta, Georgia, and executive vice president Sean Waggoner, practicing in Houston, both made the jump in the past two months, per BrokerCheck records. The third member of the group, Seattle-based Sarah Keibler, is still registered with LPL.

The team managed at least $5 billion in client assets and upwards of 250 retirement plans in 2016, according to a press release issued by Alliant Retirement Services last year.

"This transition is part of a wave of increased interest we’ve received from successful retirement plan-focused advisors who want to continue operating as independent teams, but need large firm resources to deliver a deeper, advice-centric experience to their clients," said Cetera president Tom Taylor in a statement.

The move comes after a series of high-level advisors at LPL, along with LPL’s president, left the firm to join Cetera, based in El Segundo, California. Former LPL president and heir apparent Robert Moore left the firm for Cetera in 2015. Ron Carson, of Carson Wealth Management, joined Moore at Cetera in January, bringing $3 billion in AUM and almost 500 high-net-worth households.

LPL did not respond to requests for comment.

Cetera managed $73 billion in client assets as of year-end 2016, a 3% increase from the prior year.

LPL, which managed $509 billion in client assets in 2016, reported a 5% rise in year-over-year revenue.