LPL adds $4.7B client assets with Commerce Bank's move

LPL Financial's Institution Services unit welcomed its latest giant recruit among bank-based wealth management programs with $300 million more client assets than it anticipated last fall.

Commerce Financial Advisors — the retail brokerage and advisory arm of Commerce Brokerage Services and its parent, major Kansas City, Missouri-based regional bank Commerce Bank — completed the move of its nearly 30 financial advisors with $4.7 billion in client assets to LPL on Aug. 23, the firms said. At the time of the announcement of Commerce's impending move last November, its wealth program listed $4.4 billion in client assets.

"We extend a warm welcome to the Commerce Financial Advisors leadership team, field management, advisors and support staff as they join LPL's network of enterprise clients," Ken Hullings, LPL's executive vice president of enterprise business development, said in a statement. "LPL is committed to providing Commerce Financial Advisors with the technology, digital capabilities and planning resources needed to strengthen client relationships and differentiate their offering in the marketplace."

Commerce joined other major moves to LPL in recent years in the bank and credit union-based wealth channel that include Bank of the West, BMO, Financial Resources Group Investment Services, M&T Bank, CUNA Brokerage Services and People's United Bank. Rivals Ameriprise and Osaic have also notched some big incoming programs through recruiting and M&A deals like that of Comerica Bank and Infinex Investments.

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A more than 150-year-old institution, Commerce is a Nasdaq-traded regional bank with $32.8 billion in total assets and about 300 branch and ATM locations.

"For more than 35 years, Commerce Financial Advisors has helped clients and their families reach their financial goals by providing sound financial advice," Mark Potter, the president of Commerce Financial Advisors, said in a statement. "We're excited about our partnership with LPL. Being able to leverage LPL's operational excellence, economies of scale and innovative technology, along with Commerce Financial Advisors' holistic advice, will allow us to elevate the personalized service experience for all our clients."

The transition marks the 11th largest recruiting poach or M&A deal involving independent brokerages in 2023, according to Financial Planning's tracking of company announcements. LPL has been the new or existing brokerage partner of the firm in question in at least 10 different migrations of $1 billion in client assets or more this year. An 11th, Crown Capital Securities, will bring 260 advisors with $6.5 billion in client assets next year.

For a more detailed look at the Commerce Bank move, click here. To see an in-depth analysis of LPL's expansion among bank and credit union-based programs, follow this link.