LPL affiliates Financial Resources Group Investment Services LLC headquartered in Fort Mill, S.C., and Gladstone Wealth Group, based in Chester, N.J., have merged to launch Gladstone Financial Resources Group, the companies announced today in a news release. The merger is only the latest in a series of transactions as the wealth management industry consolidates.
The firms, when combined into a single entity, will have 670 registered representatives, in excess of $24 billion in brokerage and advisory assets, and more than $141 million in revenue with more than 155 employees, creating the largest affiliate by revenue and assets on the LPL Financial corporate RIA platforms.
LPL, headquartered in San Diego and Boston, is the nation’s largest independent broker-dealer.
After the merger, the Financial Resources Group home office team of 33 professionals will be responsible for oversight and support of all Gladstone corporate LPL advisors, providing business consulting, marketing, training and technology support to branch offices nationwide.
Gladstone Wealth Group was founded in 2013 as a multifamily office serving individuals and businesses.
Financial Resources Group was established a decade ago in Charlotte, N.C., where it began providing wealth management services to banks and credit unions seeking to grow their businesses. The company and its representatives, registered through broker-dealer LPL, provide business development, onboarding, marketing support and technology services to over 80 financial institutions and 620 registered representatives nationwide.
According to Bruce Miller, president of the firm, its merger with Gladstone was a long time coming.
“Robert Hudson and I have worked together since 2016,” he said in a news release, referring to the founder of Gladstone. “In that time, we have developed a great personal relationship and share a common vision of support for financial advisors.”
Hudson said that he and Miller felt the time was right to leverage one another’s businesses by merging them both.
“We are terrific complements, as we focus on attracting and servicing financial advisors or teams of financial advisors with over $100 million in assets under management and have our own RIA, while Financial Resources Group offers best-in-class infrastructure and resources for all advisors," Hudson said in the news release.