LPL Financial significantly has increased its use of advisor loans to attract and retain financial professionals. InvestmentNews reports that LPL reported $2.14 billion in net advisor loans for 2024 — a 57 percent increase from the $1.36 billion reported the previous year.

Brokerage firms routinely use such "forgivable loans" as incentives for advisors to join or remain with their platforms. The loans are often structured to be repaid or forgiven over a period — typically up to 10 years — so long as the advisor remains licensed with the firm. According to InvestmentNews, LPL has aggressively leveraged these financial incentives to expand its advisor base, which now exceeds 28,000 professionals.

In addition to recruiting individual advisors, InvestmentNews reports that LPL has aggressively acquired brokerage firms. Last year, it announced its $805 million acquisition of Atria Wealth Solutions Inc., with additional payments tied to advisor retention. At the time of the announcement, Atria had 2,400 financial advisors overseeing $100 billion in client assets. LPL expects to retain at least 80 percent of those advisors and complete their transition to its platform by mid-2025.

Financial Advisor Transitions consults advisors nationwide to explore employment transition options and to preserve and protect their practice in any transition that they make.