LPL Financial Welcomes Firms In The Planners Network

75-Advisor Network Reported Serving More than $4.3 Billion in Client Assets*

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Dec. 7, 2017 – Leading retail investment advisory firm and independent broker/dealer LPL Financial LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: LPLA), today announced that an association of firms within The Planners Network (TPN), which was formerly affiliated with National Planning Corporation (NPC), have joined LPL. Each TPN firm has individually aligned with LPL. Collectively, based on prior business*, TPN-associated firms reported serving more than $4.3 billion of client brokerage and advisory assets, as of Oct. 31, 2017.

TPN was formed 18 years ago by like-minded advisors at NPC who joined together to leverage their collective scale in business operations and to provide opportunities for professional growth through educational programs and networking resources. TPN is managed by a board of directors and a chief operating officer, Kären Locklin, who work on behalf of the firms in the group. TPN is made up of approximately 75 advisors operating primarily as single-person or small offices.

David Williams CFP® serves as the current TPN board president and is founder of Retirement Investment Specialists, a three-person office in Santa Rosa, Calif. He said, “As a network, our advisors have been able to accomplish more than we could do as individual firms. TPN connected us in meaningful ways both personally and professionally. Valuing our network so much, it was important that we choose a firm that would support our relationships and our businesses. With LPL, we have the ability to establish ourselves in a way that helps us to be able to pursue our individual goals and our group’s goals. We also gain access to the firm’s enhanced technology resources, advisory platforms and transitioning tools, all of which will help with the move and our long-term success.”

“The Planners Network is a unique collective of advisors operating with a common vision to support each other’s growth, and we believe they have done so quite successfully,” said Bill Morrissey, LPL managing director and divisional president, Business Development. “Our main goal has been to help Dave, the TPN board members, and advisors each identify business model options that would help to maintain their group dynamic and achieve the scale and operational efficiencies they had negotiated as a collective. We are excited to welcome TPN advisors to LPL and look forward to supporting their continued collaboration and growth.”

NPC is one of four broker/dealers in NPH’s network of broker/dealers, assets of which were purchased by LPL as part of a previously announced transaction in August 2017.

*Asset numbers were reported by advisor firms associated with The Planners Network based on prior business and have not been independently and fully verified by LPL Financial. Each TPN- firm individually reported, based on prior business, the amount of its client brokerage and advisory assets served, as of Oct. 31, 2017.

About LPL Financial

LPL Financial LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: LPLA), is a leader in the retail financial advice market and provided service to approximately $566 billion in brokerage and advisory assets as of Oct. 31, 2017. LPL is one of the fastest growing RIA custodians and the nation’s largest independent broker-dealer (based on total revenues, Financial Planning magazine, June 1996-2017), and the firm and its financial advisors were ranked No. 1 in net customer loyalty in a 2016 Cogent Reports™ study. The Company provides proprietary technology, comprehensive clearing and compliance services, practice management programs and training, and independent research to more than 14,000 financial advisors and over 700 financial institutions, enabling them to provide a range of financial services including wealth management, retirement planning, financial planning and other investment services to help their clients turn life’s aspirations into financial realities. As of Sept. 30, 2017, financial advisors associated with LPL served more than 4 million client accounts across the U.S. as well as an estimated 41,000 retirement plans with an estimated $137 billion in retirement plan assets. Additionally, LPL supports approximately 3,700 financial advisors licensed and affiliated with insurance companies with customized clearing, advisory platforms, and technology solutions. LPL Financial and its affiliates have more than 3,500 employees with primary offices in Boston, Charlotte, and San Diego. 

Securities and Advisory Services offered through LPL Financial. A registered investment advisor, Member FINRA/SIPC.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this press release regarding the Company’s future levels of assets serviced, growth, business strategy, and plans, as well as any other statements that are not related to present facts or current conditions or that are not purely historical, constitute forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on the Company’s historical performance and its plans, estimates and expectations as of December 7, 2017. The words “believes,” “expects,” “may,” “plans,” “will” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees that the future results, plans, intentions or expectations expressed or implied by the Company will be achieved. Matters subject to forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including economic, legislative, regulatory, competitive and other factors, which may cause levels of assets serviced, actual financial or operating results, levels of activity, or the timing of events, to be materially different than those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. In particular, the Company can provide no assurance that the assets reported as serviced by financial advisors and/or firms mentioned in this press release will translate into assets continuously serviced at LPL Financial or that such financial advisors and/or firms will remain at LPL Financial. Important factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include: the choice by one or any of the clients of the Company's newly recruited financial advisors and/or firms mentioned in this press release not to maintain brokerage and/or advisory accounts at LPL Financial; discovery of errors made in the calculation of assets serviced reported by the newly recruited advisors; changes in general economic and financial market conditions, including retail investor sentiment; fluctuations in the value of assets under custody; effects of competition in the financial services industry; and the other factors set forth in Part I, “Item 1A. Risk Factors” in the Company’s 2016 Annual Report on Form 10-K and any subsequent SEC filing. Except as required by law, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of this press release, even if its estimates change, and you should not rely on those statements as representing the Company’s views as of any date subsequent to December 7, 2017.

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Media Contact:

Lauren Hoyt-Williams

980-321-1232

Lauren.Hoyt-Williams@lpl.com