Whittenburg Wealth Partners, a Utah-based investment advisory firm with about $475 million in assets will join LPL Financial with Stratos Wealth Partners, a registered investment advisor that supplies LPL-affiliated advisors with additional resources to support their growth. Whittenburg Wealth Partners, which is based in Salt Lake City, is joining LPL from Lincoln Financial.
According to founder Dan Whittenburg, the firm decided to partner with LPL and Stratos after assessing the state of the industry, asserting that the partnership would help them expand through inorganic growth.
“We have made great strides with organic growth through personal introductions, but we understand growth through practice acquisition is key,” he said. “LPL and Stratos know how to resource and vet out practices for acquisition and they have the capital, resources and support to help close the deal.”
In addition to Whittenburg, the practice includes two other advisors (including Whittenburg’s son, Austyn). According to the firm’s site, Whittenburg Wealth Partners mainly works with business owners and multi-generational families. Charles Shapiro, Stratos’ founding partner and chief development officer, also cited Stratos’ experience with supporting inorganic growth as an impetus for the deal.
“We are proud that the Whittenburgs found value in our robust hybrid platform, suite of innovative technology and proven experience in the M&A space to help propel their growth going forward,” he said.
Stratos had about $12.5 billion in managed and advisory assets as of the end of September and has more than 85 locations throughout the country. Earlier this year, Stratos Wealth Advisors (a separate RIA firm in the broader Stratos Wealth Network) added the Boston-based firm Veritas Boston Wealth Management, with $250 million in assets. LPL Financial as a whole has had a busy few weeks of deals; earlier this month, Gatewood Wealth Solutions, a St. Louis-based advisory firm with $550 million in assets under management, joined with LPL, with PGA Financial Group, a N.J.-based firm with $125 million in assets, following only a few days later.