LPL’s Chris Cassidy talks Atria deal, credit unions

investmentnews.com:

One analyst recently noted that LPL Financial’s acquisition of Atria Wealth Solutions could prove complex given its many moving parts, with Atria’s seven broker-dealers shifting the client assets of 2,400 financial advisors to LPL’s platform.

The marketplace concurs. “Every large acquisition of that nature is tricky,” said Jodie Papike, CEO of Cross-Search, a recruiting firm.

The deal, with a price tag of $805 million, as well as the possibility of up to another $230 million based on retention, was announced in February and is scheduled to close in the second half. The movement or conversion of Atria advisors to LPL should be finished by the middle of next year.

The LPL executive charged with handling the complexities of a merger involving $100 billion in client assets is Christopher Cassidy, the firm’s senior vice president of institutions.

“I’m part of the growth and business development team focused on institutions,” Cassidy said in an interview this week. “That means organizations like banks, credit unions, assets manager and insurance companies.”

Two of the broker-dealers in the Atria acquisition – CUSO Financial Services and Sorrento Pacific Financial – work with advisors who sit at banks and credit unions. “One-third of Atria’s business is institutional,” Cassidy said. “We’re helping those firms understand the LPL platform. It’s sort of where I grew up.”

Cassidy started his career with Wells Fargo in 2006 and spent the bulk of his time there at the private bank. He also did stints at Merrill Lynch, SunTrust Private Wealth Management and Cambridge Investment Research Inc. before landing at LPL in 2020.

“Think about the financial advisor marketplace,” he said, “and there are four big pools of advisors, with