Deals & Moves: LPL Has Active Recruiting Week

schedule 4 Min Read The Legacy Coast Private Wealth team LPL Financial announced four recruitment wins this week ahead of its planned conversion of Commonwealth Financial Network advisors this weekend. The San Diego-based broker/dealer made the announcements as analysts are trying to sort out how last year’s Commonwealth acquisition will play out in the future, with one telling Wealth Management this week that clearing the conversion will see LPL go further on “offense” in the marketplace.

If this week was any indication, LPL already seems to be making inroads with additional advisors, announcing the acquisition of $2.5 billion in assets. Those added teams were: Financial advisors Brett Mower and Timothy Gallagher, who left UBS to start LegacyCoast Private Wealth in Haddonfield, N.J., as part of LPL’s supported independence channel, LPL Strategic Wealth.

They had been managing about $480 million in client assets. Financial advisor Nathan “Nate” Hershman of North Canton, Ohio, left Edward Jones to join LPL’s broker/dealer and registered investment advisor platform to launch SteadRock Private Wealth. He had been overseeing about $185 million in advisory, brokerage and retirement plan assets.

Financial professionals from FHT Advisors and Impel Wealth Management left Cetera to also join LPL’s broker/dealer and RIA platform with bases in Ohio. The practices, which will remain separate, were overseeing about $1.15 billion in combined client assets. The financial advisors of Sound Foundation Wealth Advisors in Boise, Idaho, left Cambridge Investment Research for LPL’s broker/dealer and RIA platform, having overseen about $700 million in advisory, brokerage and retirement plan assets.

The firm was founded by financial advisors Nathan Downs and Cory Thomas and includes wealth advisors Seth Church, Cameron Church, Caleb Whalen, Kason Wedel, Dustin Olson and Cory McLeaf. Related: Daily Upside Founder Launches RIA with Former Mercer Advisor Mariner Independent Adds Three Teams, $302M Mariner Independent, a division of the Overland Park, Kan.-based registered investment advisor, said it onboarded three new teams since September, overseeing a combined $302 million in assets under management.

The additions come during a year when Mariner Independent also drew its largest single practice in April when Mosaic Value Partners, a $1.3 billion RIA based in Aliso Viejo, Calif., joined the channel. Since September, Trimble Wealth Advisors has left rival Carson Group to join Mariner Independent, bringing about $115 million in AUM from an office in Overland Park, Kan.

The RIA was founded by Grant Trimble and includes his wife, Liz Trimble, as wealth advisor and director of client services. Related: Q&A: John Thiel Details Indivisible Partners' Growth Strategy Steve Cash left a job as an employee advisor at ACM Wealth Management to launch Cash Private Wealth with Mariner Independent in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

He oversees about $85 million in client assets. Finally, Thomas Walsh, who most recently was with Chilton Trust, according to his LinkedIn, has joined Mariner Independent to launch Trellis Family Office in Troutman, N.C., with about $102 million in AUM. “Thomas’s move shows that Mariner Independent can be a destination for advisors serving uniquely complex clients,” Rob Sandrew, national managing director and head of Mariner Independent, said in a statement.

Sapient Capital Acquires Wealthgate Trust Company Sapient Capital, an Indianapolis-based RIA with more than $14 billion in assets under management across divisions , said it completed an acquisition of Wealthgate Trust Company, a Nevada-licensed trust company. The deal establishes a dedicated affiliated corporate trustee for Sapient, expanding its family office offering to include trust, estate, tax, charitable and wealth-planning services.

Founded in 2019 and headquartered in Las Vegas, Wealthgate provides trustee and trust administration services through a planning-led, attorney-advised model. The acquisition gives Sapient an in-house successor trustee option for trust assets the firm already advises, including discretionary and directed trustee services.

Related: Beacon Pointe Acquires $905M Edge Wealth Management “As the needs of the multi-generational families we work with continue to evolve, we remain focused on building the capabilities required to serve them in a more coordinated and comprehensive way,” CEO James Rooney said in a statement.

Raymond James & Associates advised Wealthgate on the move. Atlas Legacy Advisors Tops $1B in AUM With Deal for Eddy Investment Group Atlas Legacy Advisors, an employee-owned RIA based in Los Angeles, announced that the Eddy Investment Group, a multi-family office team based in Redondo Beach, Calif., has joined the firm, bringing its assets under management to more than $1 billion.

Atlas Legacy Advisors was founded by Marc Rosenbach, who split off his practice from the wirehouse Wells Fargo in June 2024, according to BrokerCheck. His firm is focused on high-net-worth families, business owners, executives, entrepreneurs, athletes and entertainers. The Eddy Investment Group will continue serving clients from its Redondo Beach office, expanding Atlas’ presence in Southern California, where the firm has three offices.

The firm includes Wendy Eddy, founder and managing director of the Eddy Investment Group, who brings more than 30 years of experience and will serve as managing director, and Alexandria Page, who will serve as relationship manager. Want to share your stories or thoughts as an advisor impacted by the RIA M&A market?

Contact Senior Reporter Alex Ortolani at [email protected] . About the Author Senior Reporter, Wealth Management Alex Ortolani is a New York-based senior reporter with Wealth Management with a focus on deals, moves and trends in the registered investment advisor space. In addition to financial and business reporting, he has worked in media relations and corporate communications for tech firms and Fortune 500 companies.