Hybrid group managing $1.3 billion leaves LPL

Cornerstone Wealth, which managed $1.3 billion as a hybrid affiliated with LPL Financial, has switched its broker-dealer affiliation to Mutual Securities and its custodian to Fidelity. It also has joined Focus Financial for support with its RIA. The firm, based in Huntersville, N.C., has 15 financial advisers and staff at eight offices in North Carolina, South Carolina and San Francisco. It traces its roots to 2001, when co-founders Brian Needleman, Andy Smith and Jeff Carbone established a practice at Raymond James. In 2003, Craig Rubrecht joined the group, which broke away to form Cornerstone Financial Partners, affiliating with Securities America. Cornerstone affiliated with LPL Financial in 2011.