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LPL Financial announced plans to add an employee model and boost what it will spend on technology in 2019 to $150 million to support this and other developments. The aim of the effort is "to create a new unique employee model for independent-minded advisors who do not want to manage every aspect of a business," according to an investor presentation made by CEO & President Dan Arnold.
The independent broker-dealer sees this strategy and its related IT moves as a good way to "attract advisors who have more than a 75% mix of advisory business." According to LPL, traditional employee advisors work with about $11 trillion in client assets, while advisory-oriented independent models encompass $5 trillion and traditional independent models $3 trillion.
LPL's new 2019 tech budget is up from the estimated $135 million figure it shared several months ago. It represents a 25% increase over last year's tech budget of $120 million — ahead of the 20% compound annual growth rate the firm says it has been on since 2015, when it had a $60 million tech budget.
Some areas for increased tech spending include adding capabilities to its advisory platform, so advisors can serve clients in more segments of the wealth management market; boosting the service experience of ClientWorks; and adding capabilities and organization to make ClientWorks Connected an "end-to-end solution."
Ben Edwards' News
St. Louis-based wealth firm Benjamin F. Edwards says it has opened a corporate RIA:
Edwards Wealth Management. In a nod to the growing RIA segment of the wealth business and hockey great Wayne Gretzky's saying, "Skate to where the puck is going, not where it has been," the firm debuted its new business with the arrival of two former pro-hockey players turned advisors: Blake and Connor Dunlop of Dunlop Investment Group, a father-son duo who manage $230 million in client assets.
"As our storied brand continues to grow and thrive, Edwards Wealth Management will be a meaningful complement to our firm's mission of working with advisors and their clients to achieve their financial goals. We are a private company that can offer entrepreneurial advisory firms the stable brand, strong support and sound values necessary to grow their business," said Tad Edwards, chairman, CEO and president of Benjamin F. Edwards.
The RIA formation is taking place about 10 years since Benjamin F. Edwards' broker-dealer opened its first branch office. The firm now has $25 billion in assets, 67 offices in 26 states and about 500 employees. It is led by Tad Edwards, a former president of A.G. Edwards, which was acquired by Wachovia and later Wells Fargo; he also is the great-great-grandson of A.G. Edwards' founder and the son of Benjamin F. Edwards III, A.G. Edwards' longtime CEO.
(A.G. Edwards was started in 1887 by Albert Gallatin Edwards, who served as assistant secretary of the Treasury for five presidents, including Abraham Lincoln.)
As for the Dunlops, Blake played for the St. Louis Blues, Minnesota North Stars, Philadelphia Flyers and Detroit Red Wings. Connor, who went to the University of Notre Dame on hockey scholarship, played professionally in the U.S and overseas.
"My father and I initially joined the Benjamin F. Edwards broker-dealer almost 10 years ago … ," Connor said. "Today, we are extremely honored to continue this partnership as the first advisors to affiliate with Edwards Wealth Management."
Waddell & Reed Plans
Waddell & Reed is looking to move its headquarters to Missouri from Overland Park, Kansas, and expects to share an update on these plans by year-end.
"Over the past two years we have taken very deliberate and necessary steps to strengthen the foundation of our business," according to CEO and Chief Investment Officer Phil Sanders. If the financial firm — which includes a broker-dealer — chooses to move to St. Louis, it would join several large rivals now based there, like Wells Fargo Advisors, Edward Jones and Stifel.
