Following the transaction, which is expected to close in the first quarter of this year, Fortigent will run its business with the same brand and management team in place, based at its Rockville, MD headquarters. Current chief executive and president of Fortigent Andrew Putterman will stay in place and report directly to Robert Moore, chief financial officer of LPL Financial. The Maryland-based firm will also retain its focus on the sophisticated, high net worth side of the wealth management business.

The deal bolsters LPL’s presence in the RIA and high net worth advisory market, an area where the firm – which has strong ties with the mass affluent market – is encountering “growing success,” according to Moore.

Fortigent offers business-to-business outsourced wealth management service to banks, trust companies, and independent advisory firms, such as an open architecture investment platform, a unified managed account program, and consolidated wealth reporting.

Nasdaq-listed LPL appears in expansionary mode, having also announced the acquisition of Concord Capital Partners in April 2011, along with certain of its subsidiaries. That transaction is also expected to close this quarter. Based in Matawan, NJ, Concord is a wealth management firm with some $10 billion in assets under administration.

The earlier deal is intended to strengthen LPL Financial’s ability to support the brokerage and trust business lines of its financial institution partners, and is expected to create expansionary opportunities for the firm in that space, Dan Arnold, divisional president and managing director for LPL Financial Institution Services, said at the time.

LPL offers services to some 12,800 financial advisors and 730 financial institutions in the US. Along with its affiliates it employs around 2,700 people, with headquarters in Boston, Charlotte, and San Diego.