LPL Addresses Black Advisor Issues in New Video Series

Still a Long Way to Go

The percentage of advisors at LPL who are Black is "about on par with the industry across the board, which — as we all know — has definite room for improvement," Taylor Riley conceded. Blacks and Hispanics make up only a "low single-digit percentage" of LPL's advisors, according to the company.

A report from the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards found that Black and Latino advisors represented less than 4% of CFP professionals in 2020, LPL noted.

The CFP Board said last month that the number of Black and Hispanic CFP professionals increased to 3,688, up 12.6% from 3,274 in 2019. The growth rate was almost five times that of all CFP professionals. The number of Black CFPs grew to 1,493, but they still accounted for only 1.68% of planners. The number of Hispanic CFPs increased to 2,170 (2.46% of CFPs). There were only 25 biracial Black and Hispanic CFPs (.028% of CFPs).

A recent Cerulli study, meanwhile, pointed to a lack of familiarity with the financial advisory profession, particularly among women and people of color, as a barrier to breaking into the industry, LPL noted.

Video Series

"We brought these advisors together during Black History Month for a special video series because we believe representation truly matters," Taylor Riley said in a statement.

"At LPL, our goal is to reflect the diverse marketplace and be agents of positive change in our industry," she said. "We believe everyone brings a different perspective to the table, and we are committed to cultivating spaces for underrepresented advisor groups to connect, share best practices for growing their businesses and have the opportunity to be a part of a community of peers with similar backgrounds and shared experiences."

In the first episode, "Barriers to Entry," the group discusses barriers facing Black advisors, who are still underrepresented in the industry.

"When there's nobody that looks like you in a hiring position, it makes it that much more difficult to compete," LPL advisor Brian Butler of Wealth Standard Financial said in the LPL video discussion, referring to entry-level positions in most wirehouses. "It's a hard mountain to climb, and the business is hard enough anyway."

Other barriers to success for Black advisors, according to the group, include compensation issues, lack of training and mentorship opportunities, preconceived biases and difficulties establishing a client base, LPL said.