Wealth Advisory Practice With $210M in Assets Switches to Ameriprise From LPL

Private wealth advisory practice Highland Wealth Management recently hopped firms, leaving LPL Financial to join the independent channel of Ameriprise Financial Inc. (NYSE: AMP).

“We pride ourselves on giving our clients excellent service and needed a broker-dealer that would make it easier, not more difficult, to do that,” said Lee Hooks, MBA, CFP, private wealth adviser.

The practice, with $210 million in assets, is located in Columbia, Lewisburg, and Pulaski, Tenn., and is led Hooks and includes financial advisers Adam Kock, Clyde Allen III, Kathryn Haislip Lintz, Mike Wickberg, and Whitney Shimatsu.

Highland Wealth Management said it conducted an extensive search for a new broker-dealer that could complement the superior service they provide to clients. Reflecting on their decision, Hooks cited client satisfaction, independence, and technology as factors that influenced his practice’s changeover.

“Ameriprise invests heavily in technology to help advisers deliver for their clients while making it easier for their practices to grow and flourish. Our clients have been extremely impressed with the Ameriprise app and client-facing technology,” added Hooks.

Highland Wealth Management provides comprehensive advice to clients to help them achieve the goals they have for themselves and their families. The practice includes administrative assistant Carolann Hall, director of operations Mallory Maddox and client specialist Craig Ladd, and is supported locally by George Varones, Ameriprise franchise field vice president, and Trish Moll, Ameriprise regional vice president.

According to Ameriprise, it has had 1,700 financial advisers join the firm in the last five years. The company said that wealth advisers are drawn to its ultimate adviser partnership, which “offers a differentiated experience for advisers that helps them accelerate growth while delivering an excellent client experience. Combined with the company’s culture of support and independence, the [partnership helps advisers] scale their businesses, deepen client relationships, and drive referrals for future growth.”

The move comes during a period in which Ameriprise has been engaged in a prolonged legal fight with LPL over their right to solicit former customers. At the end of February 2025, a third-party outlet reported that Ameriprise had lost its request for a temporary restraining order against LPL and three advisers in Arizona but won a permanent injunction against a broker in Washington and the San Diego-based firm in another suit.

In October 2024, AltsWire reported that Ameriprise’s assets under management and administration reached $1.5 trillion at the end of September 2024, up 22% year-over-year due to strong client inflows and market appreciation, according to the company. During its third-quarter earnings call and affiliated report, Ameriprise also highlighted its adjusted operating net revenue of $4.4 billion, up 11% from 2023, due to organic growth, strong equity markets and higher spread revenues.

Ameriprise Financial has a nationwide network of approximately 10,000 financial advisers.

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