LPL Financial Assets Reach $2.57 Trillion Ahead of Commonwealth Onboarding

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (LPLA) reported $2.57 trillion in client assets at the end of the third quarter of 2026, while trailing-12-month adjusted earnings and gross profit increased as the wealth-management company prepared to onboard Commonwealth Financial Network advisors in November. The company also narrowed its 2026 Core G&A expense outlook, reflecting results through September while retaining planned spending tied to the Commonwealth integration.

Assets and earnings expand

Total client assets reached $2.565 trillion as of Sept. 30, up from $2.371 trillion at the end of 2025. Advisor-channel assets were approximately $1.97 trillion, while the institutional channel accounted for about $600 billion. Advisory assets represented 61% of total client assets, compared with 59% in 2025.

Trailing-12-month organic net new assets totaled $147 billion, representing an annualized organic growth rate of 4.2%. Organic advisory net new assets were $117 billion, supplemented by $32 billion of net conversions from brokerage to advisory accounts. The annualized organic growth rate for advisory assets was 8.7%.

LPL generated trailing-12-month gross profit, a non-GAAP measure, of $6.42 billion, compared with $5.60 billion for full-year 2025. Trailing-12-month net income was $1.39 billion, or $17.43 per diluted share, while adjusted net income was $1.81 billion and adjusted earnings were $22.64 per diluted share. Adjusted EPS excludes acquisition costs, amortization of other intangible assets and related tax effects.

Adjusted EBITDA for the trailing 12 months was $3.30 billion, and the non-GAAP adjusted pre-tax margin was 38%. Total revenue over the same period was $20.40 billion.

The company continued to see a shift toward advisory services, which generally generate higher gross-profit returns on assets than brokerage accounts. LPL said about 80% of new client flows are entering advisory accounts, while centrally managed advisory platforms and subscription-based LPL Solutions provide additional revenue opportunities.

Commonwealth onboarding approaches

LPL expects Commonwealth Financial Network advisors to move onto its platform on Nov. 14, 2026. The company completed the approximately $2.7 billion acquisition in August 2025 and said it is tracking toward asset retention of about 83%.

Commonwealth had approximately 3,000 advisors serving about $340 billion in client assets as of Sept. 30, assuming full retention. Its asset mix was approximately 75% advisory and 25% brokerage, with client cash balances of about $3.7 billion.

Based on preliminary financial information and the expected retention level, LPL estimated Commonwealth’s acquired baseline EBITDA at approximately $90 million. After onboarding and integration are completed, management expects revenue and expense synergies to produce annual run-rate EBITDA of about $415 million.

LPL expects approximately $485 million of onboarding and integration costs, along with about $215 million of technology spending that will be capitalized and amortized over time. Gross-profit benefits are expected to begin after onboarding, while expense synergies are projected to emerge during the subsequent integration period.

Expense outlook narrowed

LPL narrowed its 2026 Core G&A outlook to between $2.14 billion and $2.16 billion from a previous range of $2.14 billion to $2.165 billion. Core G&A is a non-GAAP measure intended to capture corporate expenses over which management generally has greater control.

The outlook includes $350 million to $355 million of expenses associated with Commonwealth. Excluding those costs, LPL expects Core G&A of $1.79 billion to $1.805 billion, representing growth of approximately 5% to 6% from 2025 on a comparable basis.

The company plans to continue investing in technology, advisor and institutional services, new affiliation models and operational efficiency. Its Latitude technology platform is intended to combine data, security, advisor workflows, client-facing tools and artificial-intelligence capabilities in a unified system.

Cash balances and capital allocation

Client cash balances totaled $56.6 billion at quarter-end, or 2.2% of client assets. LPL said cash balances declined during the quarter because of net securities purchases. The company characterized most client cash as operational funds used for activities such as rebalancing, fee payments and withdrawals.

Fixed-rate balances represented approximately 65% of LPL’s insured cash account portfolio, within management’s target range of 50% to 75%. During the quarter, the company added $1.6 billion of fixed-rate contracts with maturities of one to five years and an average yield of approximately 475 basis points.

LPL ended the quarter with a leverage ratio of 1.93 times, within management’s long-term target range of 1.5 to 2.5 times and close to its stated objective of approximately 2 times. The company resumed share repurchases in the second quarter of 2026 after pausing them following the announcement of the Commonwealth acquisition.

Execution of the Commonwealth conversion remains a central uncertainty. LPL’s outlook depends on advisors completing their transitions, clients moving their assets, and the company realizing expected revenue and cost synergies. Other disclosed risks include changes in financial markets and interest rates, pressure on client cash economics, competition for advisors and institutions, regulatory and legal costs, cybersecurity and technology risks, and delays in onboarding acquired or recruited assets.