LPL Financial Holdings, the parent company of LPL Financial, reported second quarter net income of $39.5 million, down $6 million from a year earlier.

For the first half of 2012, net income fell 14.6 per cent, or $13.8 million, from the same period in 2011, to $94.5 million. This was mainly due to a pre-tax charge related to the completion of the refinancing of the firm’s senior secured credit facilities in the first quarter, it said.

Net revenues for the second quarter of 2012 increased 1.5 per cent year-over-year to $907.8 million. For the first half, they rose 2.4 per cent year-over-year to $1.8 billion.

"Investors are exhibiting more cautious behavior in light of the uncertain market conditions, which manifests itself in lower investment activity and reduced trading. As a result, net revenues only grew 1.5 per cent year-over-year," said Mark Casady, LPL Financial chairman and chief executive. "At the same time, our performance has been impacted by our ongoing commitment to additional investment."

Casady added that investment had placed “further pressure” on the firm’s bottom line.

“Year-over-year we dedicated additional transition assistance to support strong advisor growth, incurred incremental expenses from our acquisitions of Concord and Fortigent and made additional investments in the retirement and mass-market spaces,” he said.

Meanwhile, total advisory and brokerage assets stood at $353 billion at the end of the quarter, an increase of 3.6 per cent year-over-year and a drop of 0.3 per cent consecutively. Advisory assets under management were $111.4 billion at quarter-end, as the firm added $2.8 billion of net new advisory assets over the quarter.

Commission revenue fell 2.7 per cent year-over-year, declining 6.2 per cent on a per-advisor basis, with the fall offset by advisor growth.

Advisory revenue climbed 1.5 per cent year-over-year, boosted by net new advisory assets and market appreciation, but held down by a drop in advisory revenue as a percentage of advisory assets.

Recurring revenue represented 65.3 per cent of net revenue for the quarter, compared to 62.4 per cent for the prior year period.

“Our recurring revenue remains a valuable component of our business, and new advisor growth was robust with 223 net new advisors joining this quarter. We continue to see strong asset flows, as reflected by $2.8 billion in net new advisory assets representing 10 per cent annualized growth," said Casady.