Being an independent financial advisor allows you the freedom to serve your clients as you see fit and build your practice and your future as you envision it.

However, while the flexibility and fulfillment you gain from independence is rewarding, you may experience challenges because of a lack of services or technology that can ultimately limit your ability to grow or best serve your clients.

But being independent doesn’t need to be a compromise of freedom over capabilities. With the right partner who tailors its service to your business model and delivers the scale and resources to support your growth, independence can offer all the benefits and help limit the drawbacks to both you and your clients.

How to Identify the Right Partner

The key to identifying the right broker/dealer partner is finding one that not only aligns with your values, but also has the breadth and depth of services, capital support and technology platforms that fully support your goals to grow your practice in whichever ways you choose. When you find a partner that hits that sweet spot, you can manage your business from a position of strength, stability and sustainability—whether that’s through efficiency gains, access to invaluable research, or dedicated, localized support.

The right broker-/ealer partner can help you manage your daily operations, allowing you to focus more attention on strengthening your client relationships and fostering the growth of your business.

Hone Your Competitive Edge

It can be difficult to remain competitive and attract and retain clients if you don’t have access to the valuable tools and expertise that other financial advisors have. But a strategic partnership with the right broker-dealer can help level the field and provide benefits like:

1. Technology
2. Service and Support
3. Business Consulting
4. Access to Capital for Strategic Growth
5. Ability to Plan for Your Future

Technology

Technology is fundamental to running a financial advising practice, but if it is not maintained and updated, it quickly becomes obsolete. Choosing a broker-dealer that makes significant investments in their advisor and investor technology helps you not only streamline your business and increase your value to your clients, it can help you stay at the forefront of market change and evolving trends

Service and Support

Being independent doesn’t mean you’re alone. A strategic partnership with a broker-dealer means you and your staff have access to a team of experts focused on removing barriers to your growth and supporting your success. You should feel confident in relying on your broker-dealer as a one-stop-shop for anything you need to grow your business, including:

• Client service teams who serve as a direct extension of your staff and can address your needs quickly
• Research insights to help you stay on top of trends and effectively guide clients, particularly in times of market volatility
• Marketing expertise that can help you attract new prospects and grow your client base
• Training and development so you and your staff are always ready to deliver an exceptional client experience.

Business Consulting

Your broker/dealer should be dedicated to helping you reach your business goals, no matter how aspirational. They can provide the tools and advice to help you optimize your operations, identify new opportunities or markets, acquire more clients, and add new product or service offerings to your practice - all with your growth and success in mind.

Access to Capital for Strategic Growth

Significant growth often requires investment. A broker-dealer that can support your growth with access to capital allows you to make strategic investments in marketing, hiring, expanding, and even acquisitions.

Ability to Plan for Your Future

Whether you choose to implement a succession plan or sell your business, the right broker/dealer can help you realize the full value of your practice.

What Could You Do with More Resources?

So how do you find the right partner? At LPL Financial, we believe it’s essential to choose a broker-dealer that is dedicated to you and your success. Look for one who empowers your independence, helps you overcome the challenges and restrictions of business ownership, rewards you for the value of your work, and supports your future goals. When weighing your options, ask yourself:

•  Is my current broker-dealer right for my practice?
• If I decide to transition, will I get the hands-on guidance I need to make the change quickly and successfully?
• Will another broker-dealer be able to support my unique business needs?
•  What about my bottom line?

One of the best ways to determine which partner would be right for you is to assess where you are right now. Are you encountering constant frustrations with your current firm? Are you able to meet your clients’ needs? Do you find it difficult to attract new clients? Asking these questions about your current situation can reveal serious gaps. It’s important to also think about your broker-dealer’s future; what’s on their roadmap? How are they investing in the technology and capabilities that will help you stay relevant and continue to deliver value? Do they have the long-term financial strength to effectively support your growth goals?

Sometimes the challenge of transitioning and repapering can be the reason you stay with a current partner. But an experienced broker-dealer knows how to manage the change to ensure your business has minimal disruption. At LPL, our advisors are typically able to transition within two months with 90 to 100 percent of targeted assets under management (AUM) on average. You’ll work with a dedicated support team that’s focused on ensuring you, your staff, and importantly, your clients are set up for success.

Evaluate your current needs and challenges, as well as capabilities you need to reach your business goals. A broker-dealer should be able to meet you where you are, but also have the scale and capabilities to get you where you want to go. At LPL, we understand that you and your clients are unique. That’s why we offer access to a broad range of nonproprietary products and investment platforms and have robust capabilities to fulfill niche business requirements and ensure you have what you need. Make sure the partner you choose covers all your bases.

You want to partner with a broker-dealer who can help you maximize your profit. That means, not just offering competitive payouts, but using economies of scale to offer low pricing and pass on cost-savings to advisors. At LPL, our payouts are between 90 and 100 percent, and we have made it a focus to reduce costs where possible for advisors. As a result, our advisors are able to realize the highest possible value for their business.

LPL: Your Dedicated Partner

Everything your partner does should focus on a single goal: your success. At LPL Financial, our mission is to take care of advisors like you, so you can take care of your clients. Your partner should be an ally in saving you time and effort on administrative and managerial tasks so you can dedicate yourself to building client relationships that result in business growth.

Finally, your partner should understand your values and the goals of your service model. They should believe in helping you achieve financial independence and offer independent, objective advice, with the freedom to manage your business as you see fit. They should be your consultant and a provider of resources, flexibility, access to research, and powerful tools you need to help your clients pursue their financial goals.

Real-Life Business Benefits

At LPL, we want you to find the right partner, no matter which broker-dealer that might be. We’ve been dedicated to supporting and growing independent financial advisors for more than 30 years and know that no two advisors are alike, therefore no two advisors have the same needs or goals. We have the experience, tools, resources and scale to support you and your business now and into the future. Don’t just take our word for it; read how others have benefited from what we have to offer:

•  Efficiency Gains for BMG Advisors and Premiere Investments

LPL has designed our technology and automation capabilities to help you scale your business. Premier Investments now relies on the ease of eSignatures and easy client access to the LPL platform. The cutting-edge technology and online capabilities we provide not only make Premier more efficient, but also allow the company to appeal to a younger audience, leading to more marketplace exposure, which leads to growth. Download the case study.

Also, BMG Advisors is now able to serve their clients effectively no matter how big their business grows, simply because LPL helped automate previously manual processes. BMG is looking toward the future now, planning to expand its LPL resources and capitalize on our subject matter experts who can provide specialized knowledge. Read their story.

• Research Matters to Patriot Wealth Management

With LPL, you gain access to a wide breadth of knowledge and subject-matter experts that cannot be matched by most organizations. Our research team has more than 50 experts including analysts, strategists, economists, and investment and communication specialists. As E. Martin von Känel of Patriot Wealth Management said, “I do see it, I do feel it. They are genuine about helping us out.” Learn more.

• Support from all Levels of LPL Made the Difference for Leibman Financial Services

Our clients vouch for our outstanding service that continues beyond the transition. “When you consider the sheer size of LPL,” said Mark Leibman of Leibman Financial Services, “you’d be surprised to see just how accessible and available the people at the top are.” Read more.

Why Make the Change?

Being independent doesn’t mean you’re alone—it means you’re free to choose your partnerships. The right broker-dealer partnership can create momentum in your business, give your independent practice a solid foundation for growth, and provide new benefits and opportunities. When you choose LPL, you’re choosing the #1 independent broker-dealer in the country*, and selecting a partner that believes objective financial guidance is a fundamental need for everyone. Even if you decide to go another route, we’ll always be here with helpful resources to enhance your journey. We’re here to help you do what you do best, create relationships and turn aspirations into financial realities.

*As reported by Financial Planning Magazine, June 1996-2019, based on total revenue.

The views and opinions expressed by the LPL Financial Advisor may not be representative of the views of the other Financial Advisors and are not indicative of future performance or success. Neither LPL Financial nor the LPL Financial Advisor can be held responsible for any direct or incidental loss incurred by applying any of the information offered.

Advisor Firms mentioned and LPL Financial are separate entities.