LPL nabs team managing $900M at RBC

A team that oversaw $900 million in client assets at RBC Wealth Management has affiliated with LPL Financial’s LPL Strategic Wealth Services, the firm said.

The four advisors are launching Sides Wealth Advisory Group in York, Pennsylvania.

The practice was founded in 1987 by Scott Sides and the team plans to continue his legacy. The advisors are Brock Hively, Josh Smeltzer, Aaron Gingrich and Emily Sides.

Hively has 25 years of experience, according to his BrokerCheck report, starting at Dean Witter Reynolds in 1998, and had been affiliated with RBC since 2012. Smeltzer started in 2006 at Citigroup and had been affiliated with RBC since 2012. Gingrich has 10 years of experience, having started at RBC in 2013, and Sides started at RBC in 2016.

The advisors moved in order to gain more control over their business, as well as the ability to provide more customized support.

“We all share an entrepreneurial mindset and recognize the value of owning our business,” Smeltzer said in a statement. “By moving to LPL, we have the freedom to design and build our firm on our own terms, where clients’ best interests are always first.”

Strategic Wealth Services gives firms access to LPL’s wealth management platform and also provides them with support for their daily operations and long-term business management from a team of experienced professionals.

“We all see the value of owning our business, but we understand the best use of our time is with our clients,” Gingrich said in the statement. “With Strategic Wealth Services, we’re in control of our practice, and can leverage the support and resources we need to help us serve our clients and continue to grow.”