LPL Financial LPLA has wrapped up the acquisition of The Investment Center Inc., a broker-dealer and registered investment adviser headquartered in Bedminster, NJ. The financial terms of the deal, announced in September 2024, were not disclosed.

The transaction is part of LPLA’s business expansion effort and reinforces its strategy of expanding its advisor network and enhancing offerings. By integrating Investment Center's well-established back-office support services and investment tools, the company will bolster the service experience for its advisors and clients.

Following the closure, 160 advisors of Investment Center joined LPL Financial. Immediately upon completion, roughly $4 billion of brokerage and advisory assets have been onboarded to the company. The remaining almost $3 billion is expected to be onboarded over the next several months.

Ralph DeVito, president and CEO at Investment Center, stated “Our deliberate approach to growth has allowed us to maintain a 'small firm' feel for our advisors. Joining LPL is the next step that will empower them to deliver exceptional service and achieve even greater heights.”

Reed Eastley, executive vice president of corporate development at LPL Financial, said, “Through LPL, The Investment Center can continue to grow and support its network of advisors with expanded access to LPL’s integrated technology, wealth management platforms and resources to help them operate efficiently and deliver more value to their clients.”

LPLA’s Past Buyouts

Given a strong balance sheet position, LPL Financial has accomplished several opportunistic deals over the years. In October 2024, the company acquired Atria Wealth Solutions, bolstering its offerings in the wealth management solutions market, while in May, it acquired the wealth management business of Crown Capital.

In 2023, the company took a minority stake in IAA (a hybrid registered investment advisory firm) and acquired FRGIS and the Private Client Group business of Boenning & Scattergood. In 2021, it took over Waddell & Reed's wealth management business, while in 2020, the company acquired Blaze Portfolio, the assets of E.K. Riley Investments, LLC and Lucia Securities.

Inorganic expansion efforts have been helping LPL Financial diversify revenues, add new capabilities and accelerate expansion into new markets.

LPL Financial’s Price Performance & Zacks Rank

In the past six months, shares of LPL Financial have soared 52.3%, outperforming the industry's rally of 13.2%. Zacks Investment Research

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At present, LPLA carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Similar Moves By Other Finance Stocks

Last week, BlackRock BLK completed the acquisition of Preqin, a premier independent provider of private markets data. This solidifies the company’s private markets capabilities by integrating investments, technology and data across the entire portfolio.

Preqin will expand BLK’s technology offerings, ensuring clients can continue using the former with the same level of expertise. It will remain a standalone solution, while joint customers will immediately benefit from product integrations like access to Preqin benchmarks within Aladdin.

In February, Navient NAVI completed the divestiture of its Government Services business (“NGS”) to Gallant Capital Partners.

NGS includes Navient Business Processing Group, Duncan Solutions, Gila (D.B.A. Municipal Services Bureau), Pioneer Credit Recovery and Navient BPO. As part of the deal, around 1,200 employees were transferred to Gallant Capital, and NAVI fully exited the business processing solution space.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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