Our Partners
Our Partners: The Institutions Behind Your Plan
Puzzle Wealth Solutions is proudly independent — we don't answer to a bank or a product manufacturer. Independence works because of the institutional partners we choose: firms that custody assets, support operations, and provide specialized capabilities, so our team can focus entirely on advice. Here's who they are and exactly what each one does for you.
LPL Financial - the #1 Ranked RIA Firm by Barron's*
In June 2021, Puzzle Wealth Solutions joined LPL Financial's broker-dealer, hybrid RIA, and custodial platforms — transitioning from UBS to an independent model built on transparency and acting in clients' best interests. We selected LPL for its flexible custodial platform and technology tools.
What LPL does for you day to day: a dedicated, high-level client service team at LPL supports our team's operational needs, and LPL Financial custodies most of our clients' investment holdings — your assets are held at LPL, with statements and reporting coming directly from the custodian as an independent check. Puzzle pays a portion of your annual management fee to LPL for this service. We also value that LPL is not a bank and carries the strength of a Fortune 500 company.*
Gladstone Wealth Partners
Puzzle's advisors and support staff focus their time guiding clients. When we left the banking and wirehouse models behind, we didn't want to spend a large portion of our day on compliance requirements or technology solutions. Think of it this way: Puzzle's employees are the ones on stage performing for our clients — but every show has a crew backstage coordinating the lighting and audio. That's Gladstone. When we launched Puzzle, we partnered with Gladstone to handle the production items so the show goes off without a hitch, and in turn, we get to do what we love.
Advisory services are offered through Gladstone Institutional Advisory, a Registered Investment Advisor, and in exchange for their expertise and execution, Puzzle pays a portion of your annual management fee to Gladstone. Puzzle Wealth Solutions, Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC, and LPL Financial are separate entities.
Charles Schwab & Fidelity
Candidly, our team uses Schwab and Fidelity as alternative custodial options when LPL Financial is not the best fit for a particular situation — often when an advisor joins our team and their clients' accounts are already custodied there, so nothing about the client experience has to change.
Offering multiple custodial options also keeps our team current on the latest evolution in client solutions. When your assets are custodied at Schwab or Fidelity, that custodian holds your investment accounts and reports to you directly, and Puzzle pays a portion of your annual management fee to the custodian for this service.
Ash Brokerage
Throughout the planning process, situations arise where an insurance-based strategy can offer stability during stressful events. For life insurance, long-term care, disability insurance, and annuities, we work with Ash Brokerage, which serves as a broker with over 50 years of experience and deep relationships with insurance carriers. Ash gives our clients access to a wide market of solutions — with the analysis and recommendation staying with our team.
The Private Trust Company
PTC doesn't try to be all things to all people. They have one area of expertise - helping families implement their estate plans and carry out your financial wishes. They do this in a unique way - by engaging our team of advisors with whom you already have relationships.
PTC serves in an administrative corporate trustee role and makes sure that trusts are managed and distributions occur according to the terms of the trust document. PTC also serves in an administrative corporate trustee role for all record keeping, accounting, and tax preparation services for trusts.
With that said, what is the relationship between Puzzle and PTC? Puzzle would manage the assets on behalf of the trust. PTC would facilitate the trustee services of the trust. We would work hand-in-hand to make sure liquidity was available, as needed. Both Puzzle and PTC would charge separate quarterly fees for their services.
How the pieces fit- FAQs
Who actually holds my money? Your assets are custodied at LPL Financial, Charles Schwab, or Fidelity — large, independent custodians that report to you directly. Puzzle Wealth manages the assets; the custodian holds them. That separation is deliberate: it means the statements you receive come from an institution independent of your advisor.
Does Puzzle get paid to recommend these partners? No — the economics run the other direction: Puzzle pays a portion of its fees to custodians for their services. For insurance placed through Ash Brokerage, standard insurance compensation applies and is disclosed before you make any decision.
Closing - Independence, With Institutional Strength
The partners behind Puzzle Wealth let a Southlake-based team deliver national-caliber capabilities. If you'd like to understand how these relationships work for your specific situation, ask us — transparency about how we operate is part of the job.
* #1 ranked Mega RIA firm by Barron's. LPL Financial was ranked #1 of 9 Mega RIA firms with over $90 billion in assets and 1000+ staff collectively representing nearly half the assets of all 109 ranked Top RIA firms. Results based on data submitted by 238 pre-qualified firms to Barron’s as of June 30, 2025 involving a combination of quantitative and qualitative metrics – including size, growth, service quality, technology, succession planning, advisors’ experience, client retention, diversity, charitable work, and compliance record. The ranking was issued September 12, 2025, and did not require a fee to participate. This recognition is not an endorsement nor is it indicative of any one client’s experience with LPL Financial, past investment performance or future returns. [If posting online, you should also include: Additional information about the ranking methodology is available here: https://www.barrons.com/advisor/report/top-financial-advisors/ria?page=1&mod=faranking_subnav_riafirms.
Securities offered through LPL Financial, Member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services offered through Gladstone Institutional Advisory, a Registered Investment Advisor. Puzzle Wealth Solutions LLC, Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC and LPL Financial are separate entities. LPL Financial, Charles Schwab, Fidelity, Ash Brokerage, and The Private Trust Company, N.A. are separate, unaffiliated entities except as noted. Insurance products offered through LPL Financial or its licensed affiliates.