LPL inks deal for Wintrust wealth management businesses

Roughly $16 billion of brokerage and advisory assets are set to change hands in the acquisition.

Shortly after announcing its mega-acquisition of Atria’s advisory business, LPL Financial has entered into another hefty agreement.

Under the newly announced deal, LPL will take over two books of business from Wintrust, including the wealth management business of Wintrust Investments and a portion of the private client business currently run by Great Lakes Advisors.

With that agreement, approximately $16 billion in brokerage and advisory assets, along with around 85 financial advisors, will be coming under the roof of LPL’s Institution Services platform.

Registered as a broker-dealer and an RIA, Wintrust Investments is a whale of an acquisition for LPL as it represents roughly $13 billion of brokerage and advisory assets.

Great Lakes Advisors, an RIA whose advisory assets amount to $17 billion in total, will be transitioning $3 billion of its private client advisory assets into the hands of LPL.

“At Wintrust, our focus on outstanding client service has served our customers well and has resulted in a formidable wealth management operation,” Wintrust Wealth Management chairman and CEO Tom Zidar said in a statement. “We believe LPL is the right partner to help us take our business to the next level.”

“Wintrust advisors offer deep expertise and exceptional personal attention to their clients, and we are pleased to work with Great Lakes Advisors to make their investment strategies more broadly available to the full LPL advisor ecosystem,” said Christopher Cassidy, senior vice president and head of institution business development at LPL Financial. “Through this strategic relationship, LPL will enable Wintrust advisors to further differentiate their offerings, as they will have access to a cutting-edge platform that supports the changing needs of their clients and their businesses.”

The strategic agreement between LPL and Wintrust is expected to close in the first quarter of 2025.

The announcement of the new deal comes just over a week after news that LPL will be acquiring Atria Wealth Solutions Inc., which has 2,400 financial advisors and registered reps across seven broker-dealers with a collective $100 billion in client assets.

Also last week, Wintrust also entered into a strategic partnership with OneDigital that sees Wintrust’s retirement benefits advisors division go to OneDigital Investment Advisors.