Fresh off its planned purchase of Commonwealth Financial Network, LPL announced a deal to provide advisory and brokerage support to First Horizon Bank's wealth management business.
LPL Financial announced Monday that it will be providing services for $16 billion in client assets now managed by 110 advisors in 12 states at the Memphis-based bank's wealth subsidiary, First Horizon Advisors. LPL said the team will be supported by its Institutional unit, which works with banks, credit unions and other financial firms. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of the year.
That's also when LPL plans to complete its purchase of its former independent broker-dealer rival Commonwealth Financial for $2.7 billion. LPL announced those plans last week in a deal that could bring in $285 billion in brokerage and advisory assets and up to 2,900 advisors.
With $1.7 trillion in assets and an advisor headcount of 29,000, LPL was already the biggest player among independent broker-dealers. Its growth in recent years has been driven both by purchases, like its deal to buy Commonwealth, and recruiting wins like its agreement to provide brokerage and advisory services to First Horizon's wealth business.
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LPL's Institutional Services unit's other recent gains have included Prudential Financial, which agreed in 2023 to go to LPL for brokerage, RIA and custody services. And it announced in February last year that it had been chosen to provide the same services to the wealth management division of Wintrust Financial.
LPL has also achieved growth through outright acquisitions. Besides its plan to buy Commonwealth, it agreed last year to buy Atria Wealth Solutions in a deal bringing on as many as 2,400 advisors and $100 billion in client assets.
First Horizon Advisors President Martin de Laureal said in a statement that joining LPL will allow his firm "to expand our offering and concentrate our talent, resources and capital on driving continued growth and outstanding client experiences."
First Horizon Bank's parent company, First Horizon Corp., was set at one point in early 2022 to be bought by TDBank in a deal that would have formed one of the six largest banks in the U.S.
But the $13.3 billion merger later fell apart after the banks failed to secure regulatory approval. First Horizon Corp. had $82.2 billion in assets at the end of last year. TDBank paid First Horizon $225 million in breakup fees after the deal was terminated.
