Journey Strategic Wealth Recruits $200m Advisor from LPL

Journey adds advisory team led by Michael LaBarbera and launches new Tampa office.

Journey Strategic Wealth ("Journey"), a national RIA for independent advisors, is excited to announce the addition of the MDL Wealth advisory team, including founder Michael LaBarbera, advisor Ted Albrecht, and service advisors Carol Liddy and Sheila Meneses, bringing Journey's total AUM to $3.7 billion.

LaBarbera and Journey President, Penny Phillips have a long-standing relationship with Phillips serving as a practice management consultant to MDL Wealth for several years.

“We are ready to take our practice to the next level,” said LaBarbera. “To do that, we know that we need to free up our time, double down on delivering exceptional service, and continue establishing ourselves in the markets we’re uniquely positioned to serve. Partnering with Journey is an important step in accomplishing those goals.”

Phillips added, “Mike and team could not be a better fit for Journey. They are passionate about their financial planning work and care deeply about their clients’ happiness and success. I cannot wait to watch this team grow and thrive.”

In addition to providing middle-and-back office infrastructure, including dedicated investment and operations teams, Journey takes on all investment operations tasks, freeing up time for both advisors and their staff.

Proof of the platform’s success is in the numbers. The average tenure of a Journey advisor is just over two years with average revenue growth of 99% over that time period.

Phillips added, “Our advisors grow in a scalable way, without having to immediately add expenses and people. We provide leverage so they can focus on what they do best and love most. The proof is in the pudding. When you let advisors be advisors and don’t handcuff them, they grow.”

The addition of LaBarbera establishes Journey’s foothold in Tampa and represents the eighth advisory team to join the RIA since Journey’s launch in 2021. Journey opened a Minneapolis office earlier this year, expanding on existing locations in the Bay Area, Richmond, VA, Northern NJ, and New York City.

About Journey Strategic Wealth

Journey oversees 3.7 billion in assets and is designed to turbocharge an advisor’s organic growth by creating significant capacity in the practice through middle and back office support, and by providing tools for practice management implementation.

To learn more about Journey, visit journeyswadvisor.com/.

To learn more about MDL Wealth, visit journeysw.com/mdlwealth.

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