By Andrew Welsch

When LPL Financial said it would acquire Commonwealth Financial Network, it sparked a recruiting frenzy. Rivals have swooped in to offer Commonwealth advisors lucrative deals to switch firms while LPL has offered retention bonuses to entice Commonwealth advisors to stay put.

Adam Spiegelman, a Commonwealth advisor who oversees $450 million on behalf of about 150 households isn't pursuing either option. Instead, he took the acquisition announcement as a sign to rethink a career move he'd long wanted to pursue but hadn't felt ready for: Launch his own registered investment advisory firm.

On Monday, he officially took the helm at Spiegelman Wealth Management in Walnut Creek, Calif. In doing so, he passed up on LPL's retention bonus. "I could have been enticed by a big check, but it makes me feel good to walk away from that and to be able to say no to that, and to be part of something [new]," he says.

Having his own RIA will give him more flexibility and control over his practice, such as being able to choose his own technology providers, says Spiegelman who has three employees.

He declined to share what LPL's retention offer was. AdvisorHub first reported he was moving to independence.

LPL is offering Commonwealth advisors retention bonuses that go as high as 50 basis points on an advisors' assets under management. (A basis point is one one-hundreth of a percentage point.) The bonuses' exact size depends on individual circumstances, such as length of service, but can amount to seven-figure sums for some advisors. LPL's competitors are offering recruiting bonuses that can be double what LPL is offering.

A representative for LPL didn't respond to a request for comment.

The Commonwealth acquisition, LPL's largest ever, is expected to close in the second half of this year. The company is targeting a 90% retention rate for Commonwealth advisors. Only a trickle of advisors have left so far. Some have committed to stay on with LPL while others are exploring their options before they have to transition to LPL's platform sometime next year, Barron's has reported.

Commonwealth has long had a reputation for low attrition, according to recruiters who say they found it hard to get advisors to leave the company, though not for lack of trying. Advisors have praised Commonwealth's service and its tightknit culture and community, which LPL has said it intends to maintain.

"I love that place," Spiegelman says of Commonwealth. "It was really special. I'm sad about leaving them. They expressed the same to me. They have been nothing but really helpful on the way out. We've left on very good terms."

In opening his own RIA, Spiegelman isn't alone. Over the past decade-plus, many advisors have left brokerage firms, particularly so-called wirehouses, to open fee-based RIAs. Like Spiegelman, many have cited a desire for greater control over their practices.

Spiegelman says he went 100% fee-based a couple of years ago and dropped his Finra licenses, which makes the transition to becoming a fee-based RIA much easier. He picked Fidelity as his custodian (a custodian holds client assets and provides technology, a trading platform, and other services to advisors). Fidelity is also the clearing and custody firm for Commonwealth.

Spiegelman says he doesn't have issues with LPL; it just wasn't the right fit for his aspirations and his practice, which his father founded more than 30 years ago and Spiegelman joined in 2003.

Speaking on Monday morning, he says the initial client reaction to his new RIA has been very positive. So too has been the reaction of his father, who retired in 2013. "He was very excited for me," Spiegelman says. "He understands the mechanics, and he basically said 'Good for you. Your clients will love it.'"

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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July 14, 2025 14:26 ET (18:26 GMT)

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