LPL Financial has recruited another advisor from Lincoln Financial Advisors ahead of the firm’s sale to Osaic. Brian Pflaum, a Birmingham, Ala.-based advisor with $345 million in assets, has joined LPL’s broker/dealer, RIA and custodial platforms and rebranded his practice to TPG Private Wealth.
Lincoln National Corp. announced plans in December to sell its wealth management unit to Osaic for $700 million. In a statement, Pflaum said he used the sale as an opportunity to survey the marketplace and see whether another partner would be a good fit for his business.
“With LPL, I have a partner with scale, one that is committed to investing in innovative solutions that will benefit both my practice and clients,” Pflaum said in a statement. “Now, I have access to an even broader range of products, a best-in-class technology offering and enhanced research capabilities. Moreover, I also look forward to being part of a larger advisor community to share ideas and grow my network.”
Pflaum’s move follows news last week that Lubbock, Texas-based RFS Financial Securities, a Lincoln team with about $140 million in assets, would also join LPL. David Miller, the president and managing director of RFS, told WealthManagement.com that while the looming acquisition was not the sole reason for the move, it did factor into the firm’s decision.
In February, S&P Global Ratings issued a bulletin saying Osaic’s plan to acquire Lincoln Wealth will not materially change the firm’s leverage or debt servicing capacity. S&P estimates it will cost Osaic $1.04 billion, factoring in transaction costs and retention loans to Lincoln advisors.
The Lincoln acquisition is expected to close in the first half of this year. This acquisition comes as Osaic (which rebranded from Advisor Group in 2023) is transitioning its other subsidiary b/ds into the Osaic brand. These legacy b/ds and Lincoln Financial’s wealth business are all expected to fully transition into the Osaic fold by the second quarter of 2025.
But as those acquisitions are completed (or near completion), several teams have left Osaic in the past several months, and some have landed at LPL. Among them is the Wisconsin-based Equity Design Group, which joined LPL from SagePoint Financial (one of Advisor Group/Osaic’s b/ds).