Cetera Picks Up Ex-Commonwealth Wealth Manager; LPL Adds $600M Seattle Team
Cetera Financial Group has picked up a former Commonwealth Financial Network adviser who passed on LPL Financial after its acquisition of Commonwealth, while LPL the same month added a $600 million team from a separate firm – signaling that the broker-dealer realignment touched off by the Commonwealth deal is producing recruiting wins on both sides.
Rick Bergstrom, a Tallahassee, Fla.-based adviser who spent 21 years at Commonwealth, joined Cetera’s Summit Financial Networks community along with his six-person team at 7G Wealth Management, which oversees approximately $240 million in assets under administration. Bergstrom said he gave LPL a serious look following the acquisition before concluding it was not the right fit. Cetera, which he said had been on his radar before he originally chose Commonwealth, ultimately won the business.
“When we were originally looking for a broker-dealer, the wholesalers we’d talk to would always tell us the same two names – Commonwealth and Cetera – as the place advisers and their clients were happiest,” Bergstrom said. “What brought us here now was Summit. The personal touch you get from Marshall Leeds and his team – they know who you are, they respond right away, and they go above and beyond in ways that make you feel like a priority. That’s not something you’re going to find at a firm with 30,000 or 40,000 advisers.”
The 7G practice is concentrated in law enforcement officers and other public-sector employees in the Tallahassee area. Roughly 80% of Bergstrom’s clients receive a public pension, and the practice adds 130 to 150 new clients annually through referrals.
LPL announced May 27 that Michael Stevenson, David Johnson, and Nikko Gronhovd of Seattle-based Soundview Wealth Management have joined its broker-dealer and registered investment adviser platform, reporting approximately $600 million in advisory, brokerage, and retirement plan assets. The team, which serves clients across the Pacific Northwest, joined LPL from D.A. Davidson in late April, underscoring that LPL’s recruiting pipeline extends beyond the Commonwealth integration it is absorbing.
Soundview said it chose LPL for its technology platform and operational flexibility. “From the start, LPL’s approach was straightforward,” Stevenson said. “They walked us through their technology, the flexibility of the platform, and how it supports the way we want to work with clients.”
The divergent moves illustrate the competitive dynamic reshaping independent broker-dealer distribution. LPL’s Commonwealth acquisition – the largest in the independent channel’s history – has accelerated recruiting activity across the industry as advisers weigh their options before the integration closes, with firms including Cetera, Cambridge, and others actively targeting Commonwealth-affiliated advisers who prefer a smaller-firm environment.
In April 2026, six wealth management firms – five of them formerly affiliated with Commonwealth – merged to form Kintra, an RIA based in Williamsport, Pa. Kintra launched with more than $4 billion in combined client assets under management and a staff of 74 employees across eight states.
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