LPL Investment Holdings posted strong first-quarter earnings, as a larger fleet of advisers got investors back into investing.
The company reported a record $330 billion of total advisory and brokerage assets by March 31, up 16% from the same period last year.
A big part of that growth came from advisory activity, Mark Casady, chairman and chief executive officer of LPL Financial, said during an earnings call on April 25.
"I would continue to attribute this to sales growth," Casady said. "We are also seeing double-digit, same-store sales growth. That is more assets from existing clients and getting new advisers to the book."
The independent broker-dealer roughly doubled its net income, to $49 million in the first quarter. Advisory assets on LPL's fee-based platforms reached $99.7 billion by March 31, up 23.1% from the same period in 2010. Net new advisory fees were $3.7 billion during the first quarter, compared with $1.4 billion for same quarter 2010. That stemmed from strong new business development in 2010 and a shift toward more advisory business, according to the company.
