LPL Financial Loses Two Senior Executives to &Partners and AssetMark

Two senior LPL Financial executives are taking roles at other wealth management firms, adding to a year-end reshuffle that also includes a change in LPL’s recruiting leadership. James T. McHale is joining &Partners as chief risk and governance officer, while Kate Winters will lead investment platforms and solutions at AssetMark.

The moves put experienced executives into different parts of the industry. McHale’s new position centers on risk and governance at a growing wealth management firm. Winters’ remit spans investment platforms and solutions, with AssetMark identifying registered investment advisors, high-net-worth clients and private markets among the areas where it wants to expand its reach.

McHale moves into a risk and governance role

McHale joined LPL Financial in 2023 from Wells Fargo Advisors. At LPL, he was executive vice president and chief compliance officer. &Partners, which began in 2023 and has backing from former Wells Fargo Advisors executives, has named him chief risk and governance officer.

The appointment gives the firm a senior executive whose career has included work at large, complex financial organizations. David Kowach, &Partners’ CEO and founding partner, said McHale’s experience includes helping organizations manage risk, strengthen controls and operate at scale. Kowach described the hire as a sign of the firm’s strength and the opportunity it sees ahead.

Kowach led Wells Fargo Advisors until 2019. He later became the bank’s head of affluent before leaving to launch &Partners. That background connects the new hire to a firm whose leadership includes people with experience at a major wealth management business.

For a young firm, building senior capacity in risk and governance can matter as its operations grow more complex. The role’s title indicates responsibility in areas that shape how a business oversees risk and internal controls. The available details don’t specify McHale’s priorities, reporting lines or the scope of his authority, so the practical effect of his appointment will become clearer through the work the firm assigns him.

Winters takes charge of AssetMark platforms and solutions

Winters most recently served as senior vice president of Investment Products & Strategic Partners at LPL. She joined the firm in 2017 after working at MassMutual. AssetMark has appointed her senior vice president and head of Investment Platforms and Solutions.

AssetMark said Winters will focus on extending its presence among RIAs, high-net-worth clients and private markets, along with other growth areas. The announcement describes a broad remit but doesn’t give targets, timelines or details on how the company plans to measure progress. Her experience in investment products and strategic partnerships at LPL is relevant to a role centered on platforms and solutions, though the companies haven’t laid out the specific products or relationships she’ll oversee.

The change also leaves LPL with a vacancy to fill. A company spokesperson said Mike Conley will take on the chief compliance officer duties on an interim basis while LPL searches for a permanent replacement. The firm is also seeking a replacement for Winters. Those searches will determine how LPL distributes responsibilities after the departures.

Leadership turnover at a large advice firm

LPL Financial Holdings Inc., the publicly traded holding company of LPL Financial, works with more than 30,000 financial advisors, according to the source article. At that scale, senior leadership changes can affect functions that support advisors and the wider business. The article also describes LPL as a place where executives may build experience before moving into senior positions elsewhere.

The two departures come after LPL named veteran Ken Hullings to lead recruiting last month. His title is executive vice president of business development. Hullings succeeds Scott Posner, who left the firm earlier in the year. LPL made the change as advisors from its purchase of Commonwealth Financial Network continued to settle into the firm.

Recruiting is a high-profile role in the independent broker-dealer business, where firms compete for advisors and their practices. The article identifies Rich Steinmeier, now CEO of LPL Financial Holdings, and Bill Dwyer, executive chairman at Praxis Solutions, as previous heads of advisor recruiting at LPL. That history shows how the position has been a route to broader leadership for some executives, though it doesn’t establish that Hullings will follow the same path.

Together, the changes highlight movement across several senior functions: risk and governance, investment platforms, compliance and recruiting. For LPL, the near-term focus is filling two roles and managing an interim compliance arrangement while its advisor base adjusts to the Commonwealth addition. For &Partners and AssetMark, the next measure of the appointments will be how the executives’ stated areas of responsibility translate into operating priorities and expanded business reach.