Johnson Named President of National Planning Corp.

National Planning Corp. named John C. Johnson president of the independent broker-dealer on Friday. He had been in this role on an interim basis since November 2012.

Before this, Johnson (left) was a senior vice president of NPC and first vice president of National Planning Holding, which includes four IBDs with about 3,540 financial advisors: INVEST Financial, Investment Centers of America, NPC and SII Investments. (NPH is an affiliate of Lansing, Mich.-based Jackson National; both NPH and Jackson are owned by Prudential PLC (PUK) of the United Kingdom.)

"John is uniquely qualified to lead NPC forward, having spent more than a dozen years with the firm in many different capacities, including working directly with our advisors through product support and business development, building relationships with them and servicing their needs," said Jim Livingston, CEO of NPH, in a press release. “He knows the business, the economic environment, and has the experience and vision to be a solid strategic partner to our advisors to help them build, manage and protect their businesses.”

Johnson is a fellow of the Life Office Management Association and holds LOMA Associate designations in insurance regulatory compliance and insurance agency administration, according to NPH. He has worked in the financial services industry for more than 25 years and holds FINRA Series 7, 8, 24 and 63 registrations, as well as a California insurance license.

"We have a great team here. I look forward to building on the past success at NPC and setting the direction for the future, working even more closely with all of our stakeholders including advisors, administrative professionals, employees and investors, to help each group reach its goals,” said Johnson, who worked for MetLife Investors before NHP, in a statement.

Over the past year, NPC -- which had about 1,460 reps as of Sept. 30 -- lost a number of advisor groups with as much as $2 billion in assets to rivals, such as LPL Financial (LPLA) and Royal Alliance, which is part of the AIG-owned Life & Retirement Group.