LPL losing a top recruiter

LPL Financial is losing one of its leading recruiters, Joseph Line, in the wake of three other recruiters resigning in the past year and a half. A 12-year veteran of LPL, Mr. Line told the firm last week he was resigning, according to two industry recruiters outside LPL. Mr. Line recruits 40 to 60 advisers to LPL annually, with those advisers producing $10 million to $15 million in annual fees and commissions, known as an adviser's “trailing 12” in the industry, recruiters said. Mr. Line's territories for LPL included Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio. One of the recruiters with knowledge of Mr. Line's departure, Jonathan Henschen, said, “If he can be a top recruiter in those territories compared to major metropolitan regions of the country, that is impressive indeed.” The other recruiter aware of Mr. Line's resignation asked not to be identified. Mr. Line did not return phone calls on Monday to comment. His LinkedIn profile lists his current job as senior vice president of business development for Wells Fargo Advisors. Wells Fargo has an independent broker-dealer network, FiNet. Mr. Line joined LPL in 2002 and remained until this month, according to the LinkedIn profile. Asked to confirm Mr. Line's resignations, Sallie Larsen, managing director and chief human capital officer at LPL, wrote in an e-mail, “At times, some employees will be targeted by other firms seeking to strengthen their own talent. ... We understand that from time to time our people will choose other career paths and we always wish them the best.” The departure of LPL recruiters has been ongoing since the end of 2012. In January 2013, former LPL recruiter Daniel Schwamb joined rival broker-dealer NFP Advisor Services Group as senior vice president of business development. Another LPL recruiter, Jeff Draper, left the firm in April and joined NFP in May. Contacted via e-mail, Mr. Draper, now vice president of business development with NFP, did not respond to a question asking why he had resigned from LPL. The LPL recruiter for Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia, Michael Brown, confirmed to InvestmentNews he resigned two weeks ago. He declined to comment about his resignation. The industry giant of recruiting, LPL has 30 to 40 professionals involved in recruiting. The largest independent broker-dealer with 13,600 registered reps and advisers, LPL's annual goal is to gain 400 to 500 net new advisers. After the company stopped its acquisition binge of broker-dealers in 2010 prior to its initial public offering, recruiting and not acquisitions has been the lifeblood of the firm. That strategy shifted a bit last week when LPL said it had an agreement to buy the assets of an independent broker-dealer, Financial Telesis Inc. LPL has an exclusive right to recruit the firm's 470 registered reps.