InvestmentNews reported that LPL Financial has named Ken Hullings, a veteran of the San Diego broker-dealer, to lead its recruiting function. InvestmentNews's own summary of the item was brief, so the details below draw on AdvisorHub's earlier report, on LPL's public materials and on the regulatory filings cited in our research.
AdvisorHub reported that the appointment was communicated through an internal memo from Chief Growth Officer Marc Cohen. Our research found no LPL press release announcing the change. According to AdvisorHub, Hullings will start in the recruiting role in November and will be based at LPL's San Diego headquarters. Under the reworked remit, Hullings would oversee hiring for LPL's core independent channel and the newer affiliation arrangements, among them Strategic Wealth Services and an employee group. Direct hiring for the institutional arm serving banks and credit unions falls outside that scope.
AdvisorHub reported that Hullings joined LPL in 2005 from Merrill Lynch and had led institutional client success for the two years before this appointment. AdvisorHub listed a run of earlier LPL posts, covering regional and division leadership, sales strategy and enablement, and institutional sales. FINRA BrokerCheck lists his registration with LPL Financial LLC as beginning on 24 August 2005, and shows a separate registration with LPL Enterprise, LLC. Titles differ across sources. AdvisorHub uses head of institutional client success, while LPL's own materials use executive vice president titles for the same area.
The appointment follows a leadership change in recruiting. AdvisorHub reported in April 2026 that Scott Posner, LPL's top recruiter, would leave the firm, with his departure set for June. Posner's responsibilities moved to an internal team. AdvisorHub later reported that Andrew Harpp, another LPL recruiting executive, left for Wells Fargo's FiNet unit. LPL CEO Rich Steinmeier told a BISA-hosted publication that recruiting should return to normal as the firm's efforts refocus externally.
AdvisorHub reported that recruiting slowed while LPL focused on retaining Commonwealth advisors after the August 2025 purchase. AdvisorHub reported that LPL brought in $104 billion of recruited assets in 2025, a 30% decline from $149 billion in 2024. That 2024 total counted a $63 billion boost tied to Prudential's retail wealth business. Asset-management-news.com reported that LPL's recruiting inflows fell 55% year over year to $17 billion in the first quarter of 2026, and that the firm lost a net 34 advisors in the period. These are asset figures, not revenue or prices. LPL has indicated that its recruiting will be aimed at wirehouse and regional advisors until the Commonwealth integration is complete.
LPL announced on 31 March 2025 a definitive agreement to acquire Commonwealth, which it described as the largest independently owned wealth management firm in the country. LPL closed the deal on 1 August 2025. According to the closing release filed with the SEC, Commonwealth supports about 3,000 advisors managing $305 billion in assets. LPL's 2025 10-K describes the purchase as a cash payment of about $2.7 billion, which is a price, not an asset figure. Commonwealth is a privately held firm headquartered in Massachusetts, with offices in Waltham, San Diego and Blue Ash, Ohio. Its founder, Joe Deitch, is named in the closing release, and CEO Wayne Bloom was retained and joined LPL's management committee.
LPL's closing release set a retention target of 90% for Commonwealth advisors. AdvisorHub reported that Steinmeier said in July the firm was still working toward that goal. LPL has said Commonwealth remains a wholly owned portfolio company and that onboarding to LPL's platform is expected by the fourth quarter of 2026.
LPL Financial Holdings trades on Nasdaq under the ticker LPLA and is headquartered at 4707 Executive Drive in San Diego. LPL dates its origins to 1989 and calls itself the biggest independent broker-dealer in the US. LPL's investor FAQ puts its advisor count above 32,000 and its brokerage and advisory assets near $2.4 trillion, and says the firm serves roughly 1,200 institutions. Other published figures for its assets are lower, and the numbers vary by date and source.
What comes next is visible in the dates already on record. Hullings is due to start in November. Commonwealth onboarding to LPL's platform is expected by the fourth quarter of 2026, and the 90% retention target remains the benchmark the firm has cited. Whether recruiting volumes recover will depend on how the firm balances retention work with its stated focus on wirehouse and regional advisors.