LPL loses $2.7B institutional client to Raymond James: Advisor Moves

May 22, 2025 1:29 PM

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Raymond James landed a big one this week with a financial firm moving its $2.7 billion AUM wealth business over from LPL Financial.

But LPL wasn't only on the losing end. It picked up teams from longtime rivals Ameriprise and Cetera in its own notable recruiting deals. And Stifel revved up its recruiting engines with a group pulled from Merrill. Check out the details below.

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Raymond James’ institutional division swoops up $2.7B business from LPL

Raymond James is taking over the wealth business of a large financial services company with nearly $3 billion in assets from LPL Financial.

Trustmark National Bank has enlisted Raymond James' institutional division to provide financial planning and advisory services for its wealth management business. The deal will have Trustmark's subsidiary, Trustmark Financial Services, offering investment and wealth management directly through Raymond James.

Trustmark manages roughly $2.7 billion in client assets in offices in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas. It has a team of 33 financial professionals, including 18 financial advisors.

Mike Zito, president of Trustmark Financial Services, said in a statement that he and his colleagues chose Raymond James partly because of its ability to offer "the feel of a boutique firm backed by the scale and capabilities of a large, diversified institution."

"It was the clear choice to elevate and expand our investment and wealth management offering," he said.

LPL picks up $850M team from Cetera

LPL has turned to its industry rival Cetera to pull over a 10-member advisory team.

Beacon Financial, based in Toledo, Ohio, had formerly managed $850 million at Cetera. It's joining a practice within LPL called Momentum Wealth Partners.

Beacon Financial founder and CEO Greg Kopan founded the firm in 1997. He started his career at New England Securities in 1985 and joined Cetera in 2004.

Stifel pulls $450M team from Merrill

Stifel Financial is extending its presence in Pennsylvania with the recruitment of an advisory team from Merrill.

The Abbracciamento Strandskov Wealth Management Group has joined Stifel's broker-dealer subsidiary, Stifel, Nicolaus & Co., in Yardley, Pennsylvania. The team is led by managing director for investments John Abbracciamento, senior vice president for investments Brian Strandskov and John's son, vice president for investments Gregory Abbracciamento. The team is supported by client relationship manager Michael Peczinka and registered client service associate Matthew Ryan.

The group had previously managed $450 million at Merrill, working out of Princeton, New Jersey. At Stifel, the team will report to Paul MacCrory, Philadelphia market manager, and Allen Brautigam, head of the firm's northeast region.

John Abbracciamento joined Merrill in 1984; Strandskov started there in 2005, and Gregory Abbracciamento joined in 2018. Stifel reported in April that its advisor headcount had fallen by 1% year over year to 2,340 by the end of the first quarter.

LPL recruits $315M team from Ameriprise

A two-member advisory team has jumped ship from Ameriprise to join LPL Financial in the Houston area.

The financial advisors Duane Dollar and Phillip Owens are starting PCC Wealth Partners at LPL. They had previously managed roughly $315 million at Ameriprise. Their firm's name is a reference to the slogan: "principles, care and a comprehensive approach."

Owens said in a statement that the move to LPL Financial was driven by a desire for greater autonomy.

"This industry is changing faster than ever before, and I see this move to LPL as my greatest opportunity to regain my independence and to get back to the reasons I got into the financial industry in the first place — entrepreneurship and the ability to help my clients safeguard their fiscal futures," he said.

Dollar started in the industry in the 1990s and joined RBC Capital Markets in 2007 after stints at several other firms. He moved to Ameriprise in 2016. Owens started at Merrill in 2009 and joined Ameriprise in 2013.

LPL reported earlier this month that it ended the first quarter with 29,493 advisors, a figure up nearly 29% year over year largely because of recent acquisition and recruiting deals. Ameriprise has joined other firms in no longer reporting its headcount, but last said the number was over 10,000.

Hightower takes stake in $2B firm

The RIA aggregator Hightower Advisors is making inroads into Texas with an investment in a large wealth management and financial planning practice.

Hightower announced this week that it has taken a stake in Smith Anglin, a Dallas-based firm with roughly $2 billion under management. The deal marks Hightower's second big investment of the year. It announced last week it's investing in Lindbrook Capital, a wealth management and financial planning firm with roughly $3.8 billion in client assets.

Smith Anglin was founded in 1967 and now consists of a 34-member team. It specializes in financial, retirement and tax planning for the aviation industry.

Hightower, which is mostly owned by the private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners, had roughly $168 billion in assets under management by the end of December. It encompasses 140 advisory businesses in 35 states and the District of Columbia.

Steward Partners picks up $700M RIA

The RIA aggregator Steward Partners is adding to its presence in Georgia with the acquisition of the independent firm Moore's Wealth Management.

The deal brings $700 million in assets to Steward's legacy division, which helps advisors who are planning to retire pass their practices on to colleagues. Moore's Wealth Management is a nine-member team that was founded in 2009 and now operates out of Gainesville, Georgia.

It's led by the partners Scott Moore, his sons Chris and Brian Moore, and Mark Peterson. They specialize in custom retirement income planning, tax planning and wealth preservation. Also joining them is the financial advisor Isaac Pitt. Before joining Steward, they had been affiliated with Advisory Services Network.

Steward Partners was formed in 2013 by a group of former employees of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. It's backed by the private equity firm Cynosure Group and The Pritzker Organization, run by the ultrarich Pritzker family. It secured a $140 million line of credit from Apogem Capital, Manulife Investment Management and Cynosure in November 2022 in part to support its growth plans. It was overseeing more than $40 billion in client assets by January 2025.

LPL turns to Bernstein, Dell for new executives

LPL Financial is building out its wealth and digital services ranks with new hires from Bernstein Private Wealth and Dell Technologies.

LPL announced this week that it has hired Tara Thompson Popernik to be its head of wealth planning. Her new role will have her overseeing the firm's financial planning, high net worth and product management teams. Her main goal will be to strengthen LPL's ability to serve high net worth and ultrahigh net worth clients.

Thompson Popernik previously spent more than two decades at Bernstein Private Wealth, where she most recently served as a senior vice president on the firm's wealth strategies team.

Meanwhile, Monte Tomasino has been brought on as an executive vice president of service digital enablement. He was previously at the computer company Technologies, where he was a vice president of digital enablement and engagement and oversaw the firm's contact centers and technical support services.