LPL Financial has added to its suite of business solutions with new services focused on helping the firm's nearly 23,500 advisors with technology, talent and investments.
The independent broker/dealer recently introduced a new technology consulting service, which will eventually include several services. Currently, it is focused on diagnosing advisors' technology stacks and helping them get the most value from them. This could include processing client service needs or getting clients invested more efficiently, said Aneri Jambusaria, managing director of LPL Business and Wealth Solutions.
The firm is also piloting a CRM workflow service, in which LPL staff will help advisors set up workflows in a way that makes sense to them.
Jambusaria said the firm is also looking at ways to support firms in diagnosing and improving business operations and processing new business within their offices.
“Sometimes when we feel like technology isn't working the right way, it's because we need to evolve the way business processing works,” she said.
LPL also recently launched new talent-related services, including Payroll Solutions, which will help advisors create payroll, perform full-service processing and access a dedicated payroll expert . New HR solutions will help firms create ongoing HR policies, resources, manuals and guidelines.
“Many of our independent advisors run small businesses,” she said. “They have teams of individuals. And the process of hiring those people and making them successful from an HR perspective can often be time-consuming and challenging.”
LPL is also exploring ways it can help with talent acquisition, where it would act almost like a full-service talent agency, identifying and staffing consultants.
On the investment side, the firm is currently piloting a new Chief Investment Officer service, which provides advisers with a dedicated CIO to develop custom model portfolios and who can sit on investment committees and in consultations with clients. This is powered by the LPL Research team.
In the past, LPL has helped advisors scale their investment management through technology, including its ClientWorks rebalancer and wealth portfolio modeling platform. But this would take it a step further, where LPL would function as an advisory CIO.
“At the end of the day, investment decisions — think about the investment philosophy and approach, the actual construction of clients' portfolios — all of those are generally still done by the adviser,” Jambusaria said. “Over time, the activities of a successful advisor are changing. Many of them want to spend more time engaging with their clients, working on activities related to financial planning and building relationships, and less time on selecting managers, building portfolios and working on things like that. like market reviews, for example.
Of the firm portfolio of business solutionslaunched about six years ago, is a suite of services that advisors can provide to LPL experts for a monthly subscription fee, including business growth and strategy consulting. At the end of the second quarter, LPL had about 6,000 monthly subscriptions.
LPL currently offers 14 services to the market within the solutions portfolio, with plans to expand it to 20 by the end of the year.