By Amey Stone

LPL Financial said it would acquire Commonwealth Financial Network, a privately owned wealth management company with about 2,900 financial advisors, for about $2.7 billion in cash. The deal will provide a significant boost to LPL, giving it Commonwealth's $285 billion of brokerage and advisory assets.

Among other most-read wealth management articles this week:

Bank stocks take a beating . Bank and brokerage stocks fell sharply Thursday as investors weighed the economic ramifications of President Donald Trump's far-reaching tariffs. Shares of Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, and other big banks fell as much as 10% that day and continued to fall on Friday.

Former Morgan Stanley advisor sentenced . A former Morgan Stanley advisor has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for a long-running fraud that bilked investors out of nearly $5.6 million. Jesus Rodriguez, 46, pleaded guilty in November to four criminal counts, including wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. He had arranged for a series of fraudulent transfers from clients' accounts to fund a variety of expenses, including a Lamborghini.

LPL's deal could dent Fidelity . LPL Financial's acquisition of Commonwealth Financial Network means the potential loss of a big client for Fidelity. Commonwealth currently has $285 billion in assets under management and relies on Fidelity for clearing and custody. Most of those funds are likely to eventually move to LPL.

Gold and silver have appeal . U.S. stocks are having a rotten 2025, but gold and silver have been holding up well relative to other investments. The SPDR Gold Shares ETF is up about 14% through Friday morning. The iShares Silver Trust is now flat for the year. Both ETFs fell this week on economic worries after tariff announcements but had been performing well because of record buying by central banks and investors looking for a haven. In this Barron's Advisor Big Q feature, we asked advisors whether and how they are buying gold and silver amid the rally.

Why this advisor charges by the hour . Veteran advisor Allan Roth writes about why he decided to adopt an advice-only, hourly fee-based business model. Part of the reason was because he saw that other highly respected professionals, such as attorneys and doctors, charge a fee for their time and are able to avoid many conflicts. He also thought it would be a good model for serving clients of average incomes, but he has found it appeals to the very wealthy.

Write to Amey Stone at amey.stone@barrons.com

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April 04, 2025 14:34 ET (18:34 GMT)

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