LPL adds $700 million Sound Foundation team from Cambridge

LPL Financial added Sound Foundation Wealth Advisors, a Boise, Idaho, practice reporting about $700 million in advisory, brokerage and retirement plan assets, from Cambridge Investment Research Advisors, LPL said Nov. 9.

The practice lists eight advisors, including founders Nathan Downs and Cory Thomas, plus six support staff. Seth Church, Cameron Church, Caleb Whalen, Kason Wedel, Dustin Olson and Cory McLeaf are the other advisors. Sound Foundation traces its beginnings to 2018, when Downs and Thomas came together; it now runs as a nationwide team from Boise and works with technology, healthcare and higher education professionals as well as business owners. Terms were not disclosed.

Sound Foundation's $700 million covers brokerage and retirement plan assets as well as advisory accounts, and the team joined LPL's broker-dealer and registered investment advisor platforms together. For an advisor with the same mix, the question that matters in any move is whether a destination can hold advisory, brokerage and plan assets on one platform; LPL answered it here by putting the team on both registrations.

The founders built a shared-operations model as advisors joined from around the country, according to the release, with common business processes meant to help the team work more efficiently. Client work starts with an assessment of income, expenses, assets and future goals before a financial plan is built. "Our goal is to help give clients clarity about where they are today and where they want to be in five, 10 or 20 years," Downs said.

LPL's Form ADV filed Oct. 13, 2026 reports $819.1 billion in regulatory assets, 41,879 employees and 2,850,994 accounts. Moves Wire has recorded 40 moves involving LPL in the past 12 months, 31 of them advisors joining the firm; the most recent was Wes Climer, who joined as a financial advisor on Nov. 6.