Pros & Cons of LPL’s Move to Add Virtual Assistants: FPPad’s Winterberg

"This means a pretty good amount could benefit" from virtual assistants," he said. "The most obvious [group] … would be those who do not have help right now

Even among bigger groups who are growing, virtual aides could tackle "backend grunt work," Kernan explains, and that would free up administrative and operations staff to answer the phones and work more with clients, for instance. 

Winterberg is more pessimistic about how the virtual resource will be embraced by larger groups.

"We it comes to, say, RIAs with 20 to 30 staff, I don't see this [technology plan] as having a material effect, since they have so many full-time employees internally," he said.

The situation gets tricky for teams of four to five financial professionals who rely on one administrative staff member.

"How does that admin feel about virtual assistants? Do they see their job as being at risk, as they might with competition overseas [for some services] and the pressure on fees today?" the tech consultant asked.

Advisors, like most other professionals, are trying to do more with less. The ability to turn to LPL's virtual assistants might make it more likely that a small team would get rid of a full-time administrative staff member, he explains.

"This is a tougher situation," Winterberg said.

With more than 14,000 affiliated advisors, he sees the overall impact of the virtual assistants, as the program has been outlined so far, as small: "It won't likely make that much of a material difference."

'Sticky Factor'

However, for the solo advisor, "It could be seen as an improvement and for clients, too, as advisors leverage the strength of LPL," the popular tech blogger said. "It looks like LPL is testing it, seeing how it works and wants the rollout to have a good impact. It's a measured approach."

Already some client services can easily be outsourced via human-based programs like Ruby Receptionists, which let advisors pay for someone offsite to answer their phones.

There may be some advisors who could use the virtual aide for some mundane tasks, and then their paid staff to do more complex activities — like planning a client-appreciation event or processing account-transfer forms.

"The use will differ firm by firm," said the technology consultant. "Some firms will lay off an administrative person or have them pass the time on other tasks, like business development."

Overall, though, the tech effort could prove beneficial in keeping some advisors with LPL.

"Clearly, it is a nice 'sticky factor' as a way to boost retention," he said. In other words, advisors may come to see it as advantageous and something they prefer over more broadly available services like Ruby Receptionists, which they might have to rely on if they left LPL.

"It's an interesting play in making the advisor relationship stickier," Winterberg explained. "In that sense, it's both shrewd and smart."

— Check out 10 Best & Worst Broker-Dealers: Q2 Earnings, 2017 on ThinkAdvisor.