By Andrew Welsch

Wealth management firm Cetera recruited a 14-person advisor team that previously oversaw more than $1.1 billion in assets under administration at Commonwealth Financial Network, the company said Tuesday.

The team, which goes by the name King Financial Network, is based in Manalapan, N.J., and operates as a multifamily office, according to Cetera. King Financial Network is led by founder Jim King Jr. and partners Tony Kelly and A.J. Vignola.

King has 33 years of industry experience and first registered with Commonwealth in 2015, according to BrokerCheck, an industry database maintained by industry self-regulatory organization Finra. He was registered with LPL from 2000 to 2015, according to BrokerCheck.

His team is switching firms just months after LPL acquired Commonwealth in one of the independent broker-dealer industry's largest acquisitions. King said that the acquisition was an "inflection point" that prompted him to explore switching broker-dealers.

"We're grateful for everything Commonwealth has done for us," he said in a statement. "CEO Wayne Bloom and his outstanding team helped us grow in 10 years from $108 million in assets to over $1.1 billion."

King said his team chose Cetera after meeting with senior executives at the company. He cited Cetera's technology platform and the ability to continue using Fidelity for custody and clearing. Commonwealth uses Fidelity as its custodian and LPL has said it plans to migrate Commonwealth advisors to its platform next year.

King Financial is joining Cetera's Summit Financial Networks community, which sits within the company's Cetera Advisors channel. Cetera is organized into five units, or channels, and each channel has communities of advisors within it.

Cetera Wealth Management President Todd Mackay says that the structure allows Cetera to provide personalized support to advisors and help them grow their practices. "It's a big reason that we are having a lot of conversations with Commonwealth advisors," Mackay tells Barron's Advisor.

Cetera serves 12,000 advisors and institutions and has more than $590 billion in assets under administration as of June 30.

LPL's acquisition of Commonwealth sparked a recruiting frenzy among competitors who swooped in to offer Commonwealth's nearly 3,000 financial advisors lucrative signing bonuses to switch firms and promises of high customer service levels. Commonwealth advisors are highly sought after because they tend to manage large practices and are well-regarded by their industry peers.

"They are incredible professional advisors who are focused on taking care of their clients and employees," Cetera's Mackay says. "Each and every individual we have spoken with is looking for the same level of care and devotion to the advisor that they offer their own clients."

Mackay says two open letters he wrote to Commonwealth advisors over the summer helped put his firm on the map for potential recruits. His firm has more hires in the pipeline, he says.

Few Commonwealth advisors left before the acquisition closed, though it's possible some Commonwealth advisors have been taking their time to explore their options before choosing whether to permanently stay on with LPL. Some advisors have left to start their own registered investment advisory firm. Others have joined another independent broker-dealer. In recent weeks, Raymond James Financial has announced several recruits from Commonwealth's ranks, including a four-advisor team that oversaw $411 million in Glastonbury, Conn.

LPL itself is an aggressive recruiter and has grown through hiring and acquisitions to become one of the nation's largest wealth management companies, with $1.9 trillion and more than 29,000 financial advisors. The San Diego-based company has said it plans to maintain Commonwealth's brand and community and that it was on track to meet its retention goals for the acquisition.

Write to Andrew Welsch at andrew.welsch@barrons.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

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October 07, 2025 06:00 ET (10:00 GMT)

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