Possible sale or not, LPL Financial continues to attract OSJs.
Capital Financial Planning, an office of supervisory jurisdiction with 18 independent advisers who collectively manage about $650 million in client assets, has joined LPL’s broker-dealer and hybrid RIA custodial platforms.
Based in Albany, New York, the firm was founded in 2003 by Todd Slingerland, CEO, and predominately services high-net-worth individuals, families and trusts, as well as retirement plans of corporations and non-profit organizations.
LPL’s dominance in the hybrid RIA channel and its ability to navigate regulatory changes are the key factors that enticed Capital Financial to make the transition, says Slingerland, who placed particular emphasis on avoiding conflicts of interest once the fiduciary rule goes into effect next April.
75-25 FEE COMMISSION SPLIT
Most of the OSJ’s advisers are already working in the fee-based advisory space, according to Slingerland, with an approximate 75%/25% split between fee and commission-based business. He reckons that more commission accounts will likely convert to fees in the near future, but wants to retain the flexibility of making both choices available to clients.
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Capital Financial formed its own RIA through the new collaboration with LPL, a first for the 13-year old OSJ.
“With our own RIA, we are able to give our advisers and clients the best of both worlds – to be able to offer both a brokerage and a fee-based advisory business model,” Slingerland says. He believes the combination will allow Capital Financial to remain competitive and achieve growth objectives.
HOPING TO ATTRACT MORE TALENT
So far, Slingerland says he has received great feedback from the firm’s advisers, who have made the transition surprisingly quickly.
Adam Neary, principal of the Neary/Luczak Group, an independent advisory firm affiliated with Capital Financial, is supportive of OSJ’s decision to join LPL. “I appreciate that so many processes are automated with LPL’s technology and service offering,” which Neary says will allow him to spend more time with clients.
“I’d be surprised if we didn’t garner some interest from other advisers," says Capital Financial Planning CEO Todd Slingerland.
Going forward, Slingerland expects its connection with LPL will attract more talent. “I’d be surprised if we didn’t garner some interest from other advisers and distribution fields,” he says.
In the next year, he is looking to add one to five more “high-performing, quality” advisers.
Slingerland would not comment on reports that LPL might be for sale, a development that did not draw positive comments from some other OSJs when it was first revealed last month.
