Dempsey Lord Smith, managing $1 billion in assets, joins Cambridge Investment Research as a wholly owned firm after 18 years as an independent broker/dealer under CEO Jerry Dempsey. The move allows for growth and access to better tools and services for their 88 advisors and employees.

The decision to move came from realizing they no longer needed to run a broker/dealer for growth and scale. About 75 of the 88 advisors and employees will be making the transition to Cambridge, maintaining the leadership team, including Dempsey, with a majority stake, and Smith, Lord, and Brock with minority stakes.

Financial advisors Republic Capital Group and Williams Private Wealth Advisory & Consulting assisted in the move. Cambridge has been actively recruiting advisors, recently attracting a team from the AmeriFlex Group, a hybrid RIA with 129 advisors and $11.87 billion in client assets.

Read more at Yahoo Finance: $1B Broker/Dealer Dempsey Lord Smith Moves to Cambridge