Northwest Bank has selected LPL as its new third-party broker dealer after a four-year run with Cetera.
The Warren, Pennsylvania-based bank was looking for a strategic partner that could support its growing investment services program, which currently has approximately $1.3 billion in client brokerage and advisory assets, according to the bank.
The growth of the program was due in part to the bank's acquisition last year of 18 New York-based branches of First Niagara Bank, which had used LPL as its broker dealer.
Northwest chose to align the program entirely with LPL's platform to operate more efficiently, according to the bank's program manager John Beard.
"It was clear LPL had the scale and resources we were searching for," Beard said in statement. The bank was also impressed with LPL's leadership team, which shared a vision similar to Northwest's.
"Now that our program is fully integrated onto LPL's platform, we believe we are better positioned to continue our growth and support our advisors in their work to help clients pursue their financial goals," Beard said.
Northwest employs 24 advisors who collectively manage the reported $1.3 in assets. LPL has not independently verified the asset numbers, LPL said.
"It's exciting to be recognized by the Northwest program's leadership team for our firm's ability to support the bank's growth strategy," Craig Kamis, executive vice president of LPL's Institutional Business Development, said in a statement.
Northwest's program is LPL's largest win this year. The bank is among at least two other banks whose investment services programs LPL snagged from Cetera in 2017. In January, it won
The bank operates 164 full-service offices in New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
