Page 32 - Investment Advisor - December 2023

Top News of 2023

sition and offer a one-stop-shop solution LPL advisors pursue success. The data retirement solutions, enhanced by the
can ultimately strengthen client outcomes indicated that, on average, firms outsourc- improved capabilities of the LPL plat-
and enhance overall satisfaction.” ing two or more core business functions, form and utilizing LPL for clients’ bro-
Although outsourced tax planning such as CFO, CMO or administrative ser- kerage and investment advisory needs,”
support can “help deepen an advisor’s vices, work a similar number of hours as according to a statement.
service offerings, it’s also ideal for those lower-producing advisors but “generate LPL estimates this new business
looking to better serve high-net-worth three times the revenue,” LPL said. should result in $60 million a year or more
clients and complements LPL’s robust “We continue to expand our out- in earnings after Prudential Advisors’
high-net-worth offerings and capabili- sourcing service offerings to meet the $50 billion of assets have moved onto its
ties,” according to LPL. growing demand from advisors to free platform from Fidelity and other custodi-
The firm also rolled out CFO Essentials. up time and leverage outside thinking al firms. The broker-dealer also expects
The new Business Solutions’ resource and insights,” according to Joe Lanser, the total cost of onboarding and integrat-
provides “chief financial officer expertise head of Business Solutions. “Advisors ing the assets to be $125 million, with
to emerging firms and growth-minded can access professionals in marketing, roughly 40% of these expenses set to be
advisors seeking executive-level strategic access administrative support, and offer recognized in the second half of 2024.
counsel,” LPL said in late October. CFO financial planning without adding staff.” For LPL, the Prudential deal “is a sig-
Essentials “delivers individualized In August, LPL announced that nificant milestone in our mission to offer
financial benchmarking, budgeting, and Prudential Financial was set to move sophisticated wealth management capa-
forecasting strategies provided by expe- some $50 billion in investment advi- bilities to more enterprise firms and their
rienced financial professionals,” it added. sory and annuity assets now custodied advisors,” Ken Hullings, LPL’s executive
Dan Arnold, LPL’s CEO and president, by Fidelity’s National Financial Services vice president of Enterprise Business
mentioned CFO Essentials in July, dur- unit, other firms and Prudential to LPL. Development, said in a press release.
ing an earnings call with analysts, but For its part, LPL will expand its platform “Prudential has a revered reputation of
few details were given at the time. Arnold and services to some 2,600 Prudential being a pillar of the financial services
noted it was an example of one of the Advisors’ financial professionals. industry. They have also been a valued
firm’s new streamlined versions of existing After the transition — set to wrap up partner of LPL’s since 1989 in the life and
solutions to “help advisors who may have in the second half of 2024 — Prudential annuity space. We look forward to our
less complex” client needs than others. Advisors will continue to “offer finan- expanded relationship and welcoming
LPL’s flagship CFO Premium solution cial planning, investment, insurance and Prudential Advisors to our platform.”
was “designed for complex, multi-lay-
ered practices,” the company noted. On
the other hand, CFO Essentials is a “low- Focus Financial’s Adolf steps down
er-priced, lighter-touch bundle of ser-
vices providing advisors with a dedicated Focus Financial Partners said ty to thank Rudy Adolf for
CFO who offers fundamental support on Oct. 23 that co-founder and his vision in building Focus
and actionable roadmaps for optimiza- CEO Rudy Adolf has passed Financial into an impressive
tion, growth, and efficiency,” it explained. the reins on an interim basis to wealth management organi-
The price difference between the two Dan Glaser, an operating part- zation that always puts our
offerings wasn’t cited by the firm in its ner with Clayton, Dubilier & clients’ interests first,” Glaser
news release, and LPL didn’t immedi- Rice — the private investment said in a statement. “Rudy is
ately respond to a request for comment. firm that bought Focus for an industry pioneer and leaves
Advisors using the CFO Premium solu- $7 billion in August. Focus Financial’s a strong legacy of innovation and entre-
tion have seen promising results so far, board has started its search for a new preneurship at Focus.”
including in some cases increased aver- leader, with Adolf set to fully retire at Some of Focus Financial’s roughly
age annual business valuations upwards year-end. Adolf founded the RIA aggre- 90 partner firms — which work with
of 30%, according to the firm. gator in 2004 and took it public in 2018. over $350 billion in assets — are Bartlett
The CFO Essentials rollout follows the Glaser has worked with firms in Wealth Management, Buckingham
release of the Build Your Extraordinary the financial services industry for four Strategic Wealth, Connectus Wealth
Business study developed by LPL Business decades, according to CD&R. Before Advisers, Crestwood Advisors, Douglas
Solutions, examining the common strate- joining the private equity firm in January, C. Lane & Associates, GW & Wade,
gies that top-performing advisors use to he was president and CEO of the profes- Joel Isaacson & Co., Kovitz Investment
achieve results. The research found com- sional services firm Marsh McLennan. Group, The Colony Group and Williams
monalities among how the top 10% of “I would like to take this opportuni- Jones Wealth Management.

30 Investment AdvIsor December 2023 | ThinkAdvisor.com