Recruiting Loans Climb at Ameriprise, LPL
March 3, 2021 By Jake Martin, AdvisorHub Recruiting loan balances at Ameriprise Financial and LPL Financial continued their ascent in 2020 as the firms sought to build their sales network in independent and employee brokerage channels. Ameriprise ended 2020 with $715 million of recruiting loans on its balance sheet, according to its annual report, a 10.8% jump from 12 months earlier. The Minneapolis-based firm originated $171 million in such loans in 2020, up nearly 25% from the end of 2019 and up 69% from $101 million two years earlier, according to the report. The increases in the hiring bonuses reflect the surprising strength of broker movement across the industry during the pandemic year and the particular ability of independent broker-dealers to attract brokers from employee channels. LPL is the biggest broker-dealer with more than...