A recent InvestmentNews article underscored the continued momentum behind one of the most unique platform options in the industry, spotlighting Moto Wealth Partners’ move from Fifth Third Private Bank. The team reported roughly $2 billion in advisory, brokerage, and retirement plan assets, a sizable add for the model in a single recruiting event.
That model is Linsco, LPL Financial’s employee advisor platform, and five years in, it is starting to look less like a niche and more like a repeatable growth lane.
That headline matters because it points to something larger than one team decision. Linsco is no longer a concept deck or a “new channel” that needs explaining. After more than five years in the market, it is proving it can do something most employee models struggle to do consistently: recruit like an independent platform, while still offering a W-2 structure.
The original bet: W-2 stability, with independence-style control
When LPL first raised the curtain on its employee channel back in 2020, the underlying idea was clear. There is a meaningful slice of experienced advisors who want more autonomy, more control, and a more durable sense of ownership, but who do not want to shoulder every operational detail that comes with going fully independent.
In plain English, Linsco’s positioning has always been about borrowing the best parts of independence, then wrapping them in an employee model that removes friction.
You can see that theme in how LPL describes the employee model today. LPL’s own language emphasizes being a W-2 advisor while gaining ownership of your book of business. On Linsco pages, the firm describes the model as an employee affiliation that embraces the spirit of independence while allowing advisors to build practice value, own client relationships, and control brand.
That is not accidental phrasing. It is the heart of the strategy.
The product has matured, and the message has sharpened
At this stage, LPL is not being subtle about what it wants Linsco to represent. The Linsco messaging leans into employee independence, positioning it as a top-tier W-2 option for advisors who want a customized practice without running a standalone business.
LPL also outlines operational supports designed to make that promise real, including transition services, staffing, office space, marketing support, and technology infrastructure.
This is where the model learned how to leverage independence. It is not only selling autonomy, it is selling the removal of everything that typically slows autonomy down.
Proof shows up in the buildout, not the brochure
Employee platforms either invest in infrastructure or they plateau. Linsco’s growth story is tied directly to LPL putting real resources behind the model.
LPL invites advisors to find a nearby Linsco office, and if there is not one, the firm says it is continually expanding into more locations.
You can also see that expansion in recruiting announcements. In 2022, LPL highlighted the buildout of a newly constructed Linsco office in Tacoma, Washington, including an anchor tenant advisor joining the location.
The takeaway is simple: Linsco is being built as a repeatable footprint, not a one-off affiliation arrangement.
The channel found its stride once it started stacking teams
By late 2022, the trade coverage was already shifting from “what is this model” to “this model is working.”
AdvisorHub reported in December 2022 that LPL’s employee channel had come into its own that year and attracted roughly 25 teams, with then-CEO Dan Arnold describing the employee model as a differentiated solution that blends employee attributes with independent-model advantages.
That kind of quote matters because it signals the internal confidence behind the strategy. New affiliation models often live and die by two things: whether they can deliver a consistent experience and whether they can recruit at scale. By 2022, LPL was already talking like a firm that believed the model could compete for a broader portion of employee-model assets.
And the momentum did not stop there. In early 2024, AdvisorHub reported that LPL’s newer affiliation options geared to employee and wirehouse-style channels pulled in strong recruited assets, citing LPL’s earnings commentary.
Moto Wealth Partners is the kind of headline that validates growth lane status
Which brings us back to the most recent proof point.
InvestmentNews reported that Moto Wealth Partners, led by wealth advisors Breanne Bovara and Derrick Petry, joined LPL’s Linsco employee advisor platform from Fifth Third Private Bank, bringing a reported $2 billion in advisory, brokerage, and retirement plan assets.
In recruiting terms, that is not a rounding error. It is a meaningful single-event asset win for the channel, and it is the type of team profile Linsco appears designed to attract, planning-forward, complex client work, and a desire to streamline operations so advisors can spend more time with clients.
This is also where Linsco’s leverage shows up. Independence is appealing, but independence can be operationally heavy. Linsco’s pitch is that you can keep the ownership mindset and the control, while offloading a larger share of the infrastructure burden that usually comes with running your own shop.
Why the model is resonating now
Linsco’s timing makes sense in the current market.
Many experienced advisors are re-evaluating the traditional employee experience, whether that is wirehouse bureaucracy, shifting compensation, internal complexity, or the simple feeling that the platform is not built around how modern practices want to operate. At the same time, many teams are not eager to become full-time operators of real estate, payroll, staffing, benefits, and the rest of the independence logistics.
Linsco is designed to catch that in-between demand. LPL frames its broader lineup as a spectrum of business models, from employee to full independence and everything in between. Linsco is the employee end of that spectrum with an independence-first message.
The advisor takeaway
If you are evaluating your next move and you want:
a W-2 structure, without feeling boxed in
a platform that explicitly emphasizes client relationship ownership, brand control, and practice-building
infrastructure you can actually feel, including office footprint and staffing support
Then Linsco belongs on your shortlist.
Five years in, the question is no longer whether an employee model can borrow the best parts of independence. The question is whether the platform can execute consistently at scale. Linsco’s expansion, team growth, and increasingly large recruiting wins suggest LPL believes it can.
How 3xEquity can help
If you are weighing Linsco, another LPL channel, or a completely different broker-dealer, you do not have to sort it out alone. 3xEquity helps advisors compare multiple options side by side, secure competing offers without the usual hassle, and pressure-test what will actually change for you, your team, and your clients before you make a decision.
Get started now at 3xEquity.com
