By Kenneth Corbin

LPL Financial has notched another recruiting win, bringing in a large California team from Wells Fargo. The Townsgate Wealth Management practice, based in the Los Angeles suburb of Westlake Village, oversaw about $1.15 billion in advisory, brokerage, and retirement assets at Wells Fargo, according to LPL.

The practice was founded in 2016 and caters primarily to high-net-worth individuals, families, and business owners.

LPL describes Townsgate as an ensemble practice built around the advisors' complementary strengths in areas such as fixed income and retirement planning. The service model extends to outside partnerships with attorneys and accountants.

"Our clients are the center of everything we do at Townsgate," says advisor Jim Murray. "We maintain a fiduciary focus for clients and take full discretion in trading, running portfolio models, and creating highly customized plans to help them work toward their goals."

The team also includes advisors Larry Bernstein, Abby Goldstein, Michael Kazmer, Brett Goldberg, and Wesley Wong. Goldstein and Kazmer are Certified Financial Planners.

The team joins from Wells Fargo's FiNet, its independent broker-dealer channel. Wells Fargo didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the departure.

Though FiNet advisors operate with more latitude than other wealth managers at Wells Fargo, the Townsgate team says the move was motivated by a desire for greater independence. "True independence is having the autonomy to operate on our terms, which is what we found in LPL," says Bernstein.

It is a long-tenured team. Murray broke into the industry 31 years ago with Lehman Brothers and has done stints at Citigroup and Merrill Lynch, among other firms. Bernstein started in the industry 25 years ago with Citigroup. Kazmer's resume stretches back 36 years, and Wong first registered 33 years ago. Goldberg and Goldstein have the shortest tenures of the group, at 24 years and 17 years, respectively.

The advisors are supported by administrative assistants Sarah Levi-Sickman, Joni Melickian, and Claire Trentacosta.

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.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 28, 2025 13:06 ET (18:06 GMT)

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