LPL Financial continues to build out its ability to offer alternative investments to high-net-worth clients, including plans to add more products this year, CEO Rich Steinmeier said recently.
On the investment firm’s fourth-quarter conference call, Stenmeier called alts "an incredibly important component of a high-net-worth advisor's ability" to serve clients, according to a transcript.
LPL realized a couple of years ago “that we did not have the platform and capabilities that we needed to be competitive. And as such, we began a multiyear journey” to deliver those capabilities, he said.
Last year, LPL added a custody and operational function on its platform, giving the firm the ability to onboard 2,500 products to hold in its custody, Steinmeier said. He noted that it’s “really important to advisors as they change firms.”
(On its website, LPL says it created a new platform to research, select and place orders for alternative investments — an entirely digital process that cut purchase time by 75%.)
Over the latter half of 2024, LPL has worked on the second phase, now being piloted, to be deployed in this year’s first half, Steinmeier said.
This involves launching a digitized “enhanced selling experience for advisors looking to buy alts on behalf of their clients,” with e-signature capabilities to simplify the subscription process.
“So now you've got those two core capabilities,” he said.
To be credible in the alts space, LPL also recognized the need to expand its investment offerings, with private equity and private credit products from reputable sponsors, Steinmeier said. The company significantly expanded available alts investments on its platform over last year, he noted.
“Over the course of 2024, our alternatives with selling agreements that are available for sale on our platform more than doubled as we exited the year with greater than 80 selling agreements,” Steinmeier said.
“Our intention over the course of 2025 is to continue to grow that dramatically so that we sit in a fully competitive, best-in-class position in regards to our inventory available for sale, with a custody platform that is second to none and with a selling process that we think is incredibly strong in the marketplace,” the CEO said.
“You put those three together, we think that advisors will get more comfortable on our platform positioning alternatives as a credible and an important component of portfolios for their clients,” he added.
For the quarter ended Dec. 30, LPL reported that its advisor headcount was 28,888, up 6,228 from a year ago. This includes about 2,200 advisors from Atria Wealth Solutions and 2,800 advisors from Prudential Advisors.
Total assets grew 29% year over year in the fourth quarter to $1.7 trillion. Total organic net new assets were $68 billion, with $40 billion of assets from Prudential. Recruited assets were $79 billion, with $63 billion of assets coming from Prudential.
Financial Advisor IQ reported on LPL's alternatives plans Monday.
Pictured: LPL CEO Rich Steinmeier
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