Large LPL branch adds Raymond James as another choice
By Bruce Kelly
In a highly unusual, if not unprecedented, move, a $5 billion branch office of LPL Financial with 200 advisers under its roof is adding a direct competitor to LPL, Raymond James Financial Inc., that its advisers can choose to use for brokerage and advisory services.
The branch operates under the title of Good Life Cos. and is based in Reading, Pennsylvania. Conor Delaney, the founder and CEO of Good Life, has been registered as a broker with LPL since 2012, two years before he opened a registered investment advisory firm, Good Life Advisors.
The service model for financial advisers has become increasingly fluid, with those working as advisers who charge clients fees and those who work as brokers and charge commissions overlapping into what the industry calls a “hybrid” adviser. In those cases, it’s common for businesses like Good Life to have a variety of custodians that advisers can use to hold assets.
Large RIAs, for example, are reshuffling their lineups of custodians. Another branch offices, Independent Financial Partners, broke with LPL a few years ago to launch its own brokerage, IFP Securities.