Lpl Financial Holdings Inc.
One of the largest independent broker-dealers in the US, LPL Financial provides the technology, clearing, and compliance backbone that lets thousands of independent financial advisors run their own practices without pushing proprietary products. Its name is a mash-up of its two founding firms, Linsco and Private Ledger, which merged in 1989—both born decades earlier as feisty alternatives to the big Wall Street houses. One predecessor, Private Ledger, was built on the quirky motto of treating clients like friends.