RJ and Makay

Job hopping by financial advisors (FAs) should rebound in 2011 following a slow 2010, says LPL Investment Holdings, a network of independent brokerages. The company, which has more than 12,000 independent FAs, sells clearing and many other support services. It ranks fifth in terms of revenue.

Historically, 12% of brokers have changed jobs each year, points out LPL Chief Executive Mark Casady. "If you average out '09 and what we reported through the third quarter, those two years averaged out to 12%," Casady says. "What you saw was merely an acceleration of the 2010 class into '09. My view is that if it's been 12% a year for a long time, it will continue to be 12% going forward."

On the night of November 17, LPL announced its initial public offering of 15,657,482 shares of its common stock, priced at $30, and on the morning of November 18^th it became officially listed on the NASDAQ under the symbol LPLA. Trading officially began at 9:30 EST that morning, with LPL’s chairman and chief executive, Mark Casady, doing the honor of ringing the opening bell. Shares hit a high at midday, reaching a price of $33.84, and closed at $32.15.

The IPO comes after years of anticipation. In total, it netted $470 million for stockholders who sold at the opening price. In June, when the Broker-Dealer registered for the offering, it estimated the deal value might be as high as $600 million. None of the proceeds from the sale will go to the company.

LPL Investment Holdings Inc. is setting a maximum price of $30 per share on its initial public offering that market watchers believe will come any day now, according to a recent article posted on InvestmentNews.com. The filing was a preliminary prospectus and could be changed.

At the proposed maximum price of $30, LPL LPL Investment Holdings would have a potential market capitalization of $515 million and 107.1 million shares will be outstanding after the sale.