In the News

LPL’s paradox: Cut costs and outsource for growth

16:25 03 September in In the News by rafferty

September 1, 2013 by Bruce Kelly, Investment News Shutting Nestwise, outsourcing some jobs illustrates challenges Two separate moves last week — one that involved shuttering a new business and the other job outsourcing — highlight the challenge facing LPL Financial LLC as it pushes to drive growth and contain costs. That seemingly paradoxical challenge is, of course, nothing new for big, established companies. But for LPL Financial, which has 13,400 affiliated independent advisers and 700 financial institutions, it represents a new stage in its life as a public company, industry observers said. “LPL is at the point where it's the product of many mergers,” said Alois Pirker, research director with Aite Group LLC. “It's reached a certain size, and they have to look at the operating model and ask, "How much do operations cost and how efficient...

FINRA Review, Investor Choice Act Highlight Arbitration Anomalies

17:24 12 August in In the News by rafferty

August 5, 2013 by Melanie Waddell, ThinkAdvisor FINRA’s Feinberg says broker expungement under review; new bill prohibits use of mandatory pre-dispute agreements in contracts Two recent initiatives are intended to work in investors’ favor when it comes to the controversial practice of arbitration agreements. First, announced Thursday, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority will review a controversial proposal in arbitration cases that allows brokers to expunge black marks from their record. Second, introduced Aug. 2, is the Investors Choice Act of 2013, a bill intended to ensure that investors have access to the judicial system by prohibiting use of mandatory pre-dispute securities arbitration agreements. Linda Fienberg, president of FINRA’s dispute resolution unit, told a gathering of industry attorneys late Thursday at a New York event held by the Practising Law Institute that FINRA is “looking at...

Stand-alone reps at LPL stand to see big fee hike

18:00 17 July in In the News by rafferty

July 16, 2013 by Bruce Kelly, Investment News One-adviser shops forced to pay more due to B-D's changes in rules governing OSJ; 'rock and a hard place' Bowing to coming industry regulation, LPL Financial LLC is eliminating independent reps' ability to act as their own supervisors and hitting those 2,200 one-person shops with a fee increase. It's the latest restructuring of compliance and oversight at LPL Financial, the largest independent-contractor broker-dealer with more than 13,000 registered representatives and registered investment advisers. The move — particularly a $4,800 fee increase in 2015 for reps who choose to be supervised by LPL's home office — will likely rankle LPL advisers, who have seen fee increases over the past two years, industry observers said. Under the new plan, reps who run one-adviser shops can also decide to be supervised by...