Why LPL Financial Is Buying Atria Wealth Solutions

By Amit Chowdhry • Feb 14, 2024

LPL Financial Holdings announced that the firm has entered into a definitive purchase agreement to acquire Atria Wealth Solutions (a wealth management solutions holding company headquartered in New York). Atria supports about 2,400 advisors and 150 banks and credit unions, managing approximately $100 billion of brokerage and advisory assets. Launched in 2017, Atria operates a network of broker-dealer subsidiaries focused on supporting independent financial advisors and institutions nationwide.  

As part of the agreement, Atria will transition its brokerage and advisory assets currently custodied with its network of broker-dealers to the LPL platform. The broker-dealers include two with a focus on supporting banks and credit unions — CUSO Financial Services and Sorrento Pacific Financial – and five that support independent financial professionals — Cadaret Grant, NEXT Financial Group, SCF Securities, Western International Securities, and Grove Point Financial.     

The deal was signed on February 12, 2024. And the deal is expected to close the transaction in the second half of 2024, and the conversion is expected to be completed in mid-2025, subject to receipt of regulatory approval and other conditions. 

Morgan Stanley & Co. is acting as financial advisor to LPL, with Allen & Overy serving as LPL’s legal counsel. And Ardea Partners is acting as lead financial advisor to Atria, with Ropes & Gray serving as Atria’s legal counsel. William Blair & Company, LLC also provided financial advice to Atria. 

KEY QUOTES: 

“Atria has built a great community of advisors and institutions, led by their client-centered culture. We look forward to welcoming their advisors and institutions to the LPL family, and to helping them optimize their success by providing the capabilities, technology and services to differentiate and win in the marketplace and run thriving businesses.”   

  • Dan Arnold, LPL Financial president and chief executive officer 

“Atria was founded on the vision to help deepen and enrich the relationship between financial advisors and their clients while helping them build strong and growing practices and programs. LPL shares our fundamental belief of putting advisors at the center of everything we do. I’m excited for the opportunity that our financial advisors and institutions will have to leverage LPL’s breadth of services, vast resources and unparalleled value proposition. There is no question that LPL represents the best opportunity for a financial professional, bank or credit union to grow their practice or investment program.”    

  • Doug Ketterer, Atria Wealth Solutions chief executive officer and founding partner