LPLA vs WAB Comparison

LPL Financial is the largest US independent broker-dealer, with nearly 29,000 financial advisors affiliated with its platform and roughly 10 million associated customer accounts at the end of 2024. The firm earns the bulk of its profit from interest income earned on client cash balances and from advisory fees and commissions tied to the $1.7 trillion in assets under management or advisory on its platform at year-end 2024. LPL specializes in the provision of turnkey wealth management services for affiliated independent advisors, but maintains a diverse array of affiliation modalities, running the gamut from more traditional employee models to a pure RIA custody approach. It earns tuck-in revenue from recordkeeping fees and the provision of software tools and services to its advisor base.

Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corp provides value-added, technology-based products and services for the freight rail and passenger transit industries and the mining, marine, and industrial markets. It provides its products and services through two main business segments: Freight and Transit. The company generates maximum revenue from the Freight segment, which manufactures new and modernized locomotives, provides aftermarket parts and services to existing locomotives, provides components to new and existing freight cars; builds new commuter locomotives; supplies rail control and infrastructure products, including electronics, positive train control equipment, signal design, and engineering services. Geographically, it generates a majority of its revenue from the United States.