Will LPL Financial's Asset-Gathering Strategy Continue to Pay Off?
LPL Financial Holdings Inc. LPLA has reported its August 2026 activity, showing continued momentum in client assets, advisory assets and organic net new assets (NNAs).
Total client assets reached $2.6 trillion at the end of August, up 15% year over year. The increase extends LPL Financial's strong asset-gathering trajectory and reflects continued growth in both advisory and brokerage assets. Client assets have increased steadily over the past year, supporting the company's expanding wealth management platform.
LPL Financial’s Client Assets Mix
Advisory assets remained the key growth driver, reaching $1.58 trillion in August, up 21% year over year. Advisory assets accounted for 60.8% of total client assets, compared with 57.8% a year ago, highlighting the continued shift toward recurring, fee-based business. Brokerage assets rose 6.7% year over year to $1.02 trillion. The faster growth in advisory assets underscores LPL Financial's expanding advisory platform and its increasing contribution to the company's asset base.
The advisory business has remained an important long-term growth engine. Advisory revenues accounted for 52% of total revenues in the first half of 2026 and grew at a 28.5% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) during 2020-2025, while advisory assets increased at a 24.7% CAGR over the same period. Total client assets also grew at an 18% CAGR during this period, highlighting the sustained expansion of LPL Financial's overall asset base. Continued advisor recruiting, improving advisor productivity, technology investments and strategic acquisitions should help LPL Financial expand its advisory client and asset base.
Organic NNAs also remained stronger in August. Total organic NNAs were $13.5 billion, compared with $17.8 billion a year ago, while advisory NNAs stood at $12.5 billion, up from $11.8 billion in August 2025. Brokerage NNAs were $0.9 billion compared with $6.1 billion a year ago. The continued positive organic NNAs, particularly in advisory, indicate ongoing client asset-gathering activity and support growth in the company's asset-based revenue streams.
Client cash balances increased 3.2% year over year to $54.4 billion in August 2026. Total bank sweep balances rose 10.6% to $52.2 billion, while net buying activity stood at $13.8 billion, indicating continued client investment activity.
LPL Financial's strategic acquisitions are expected to provide another avenue for asset growth. The acquisition of Mariner Advisor Network added 367 advisors and approximately $31 billion in client assets, while the company continues to integrate Commonwealth Financial Network, acquired in August 2025.
Our Take on LPL Financial
We believe LPL Financial's August activity remains encouraging, with total client assets and advisory assets growing. The continued increase in advisory assets as a share of total assets supports a more recurring, fee-based revenue mix. Positive organic NNAs, higher client cash balances and healthy net buying activity further indicate sustained client engagement. Meanwhile, advisor recruiting and strategic acquisitions are expected to provide additional support to asset growth.
Over the past six months, shares of LPL Financial have dropped 0.4% against the industry’s 15.6% rise.
LPLA's 6-Month Price Performance
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At present, LPL Financial carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Monthly Performance of LPLA’s Peers
The Charles Schwab Corporation SCHW continued to see strong platform growth, with total client assets reaching $13.41 trillion as of Aug. 31, 2026, up 19% year over year, while core NNAs surged 46% to $64.8 billion. Schwab opened 424,000 new brokerage accounts in August, up 11%, taking active brokerage accounts up 6% to 40.1 million. Banking accounts rose 13% to 2.4 million, while workplace plan participant accounts increased 5% to 5.9 million.
Client engagement also remained strong, with daily average trades rising 37% to 9.8 million and margin balances surging 92% to $177.6 billion in August. Transactional sweep cash increased 19% to $483.3 billion. Strategic acquisitions, including TD Ameritrade, USAA IMCO, Wasmer Schroeder, Motif and Forge, have broadened Schwab’s product and distribution capabilities, supporting continued client and asset growth.
Robinhood Markets, Inc. HOOD has witnessed strong growth across its platform, with total platform assets climbing to $384 billion as of Aug. 31, 2026, up 26% year over year. Net deposits remained robust at $4 billion for the month, a 14% annualized growth rate. Platform scale continued to expand alongside client assets, as funded customers increased 7.1% year over year to reach 28.6 million.
Strategic expansion into institutional crypto, wealth advisory, and international markets, facilitated by the integration of Bitstamp, TradePMR and WonderFi, along with product additions like event contracts and the custody of Trump Accounts, has broadened HOOD’s asset base and trading ecosystem. In August 2026, engagement across these initiatives was underscored by $335 billion in equity notional volume, up 68% year over year; 293 million options contracts traded, up 50%; and 4.7 billion event contracts traded, up fifteen-fold, positioning Robinhood for continued asset gathering and revenue momentum.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
