The first full day of LPL Financial LLC’s annual flagship conference, Focus 2024, is under way at the San Diego Convention Center today. Renowned throughout the wealth management industry, LPL’s Focus conference convenes one of the largest gatherings of financial advisors and industry professionals and curates content and experiences from LPL’s broad portfolio of offerings as well as from leading partners in financial technology, services and products.

The LPL community of financial advisors and institutions collectively serves 5 million American families, helping them navigate uncertainty, keep their goals in focus and pursue their financial dreams. According to Cerulli, the value of advice is increasingly taking hold in investors’ minds, with 63% of respondents indicating a willingness to pay for advice, up from 38% in 2009. Since 2009, investor interest in formal financial plans has increased from 38% to 54% of respondents.¹

“As the need for personalized financial advice grows, advisors are seeking ways to manage this demand while maintaining high levels of client service,” said Greg Gates, managing director, chief technology and information officer. “Our role to help enable their success is to bring innovative ways AI can transform how we all work, ensuring our advisors’ time is prioritized for client engagement.”

Financial advisors are bullish on artificial intelligence tools that could help them gain more insight and become better informed and more efficient in their role. And 9 out of 10 financial advisors believe AI can help grow their book of business organically by more than 20%, according to the 2024 Accenture AI in Wealth Management Report. ²

While noting advancements in the automation of repetitive activities, Gates added, “As AI capabilities develop, we expect its functionality to extend beyond the back-office to nearly all applications across wealth management, generating more personalized experiences, improving overall efficiency and elevating the value of financial advisors to their end-clients.”

LPL is actively piloting a tool that applies AI through secured systems to analyze client data and generate customized insights to shape personalized financial planning.

Increased focus on cybersecurity empowers advisors to protect their businesses

During Focus 2024, advisors will learn more about LPL Financial’s advancements in addressing the challenges of cybersecurity, including secure cloud storage and comprehensive risk assessments.

With 46% of all cyber breaches impacting businesses with fewer than 1,000 employees, the importance for financial advisors to prioritize cybersecurity cannot be overstated.³ LPL’s Digital Office provides three cybersecurity solutions for advisors: Secure Office, Secure Cloud and Secure Password. These solutions can be used together or individually to help advisors efficiently and compliantly protect their businesses from cyber threats.

• Secure Office ensures technology compliance, offers data backup and features 24/7 cybersecurity monitoring, including anti-virus protection, examiner review preparation and cybersecurity insurance.
• Secure Cloud is an enterprise-grade cloud storage solution that allows secure file access and sharing, secure client document uploads and automatic virus scanning, all while maintaining compliance.
• Secure Password simplifies password management with features like dark web monitoring and encrypted password management, reducing the complexity and enhancing the security of logins.

Wealth Management Platform Expands ETFs, SMAs, Fixed Income and Alts Products

LPL announced several expansions of the Model Wealth Portfolios (MWP) platform, highlighting the introduction of new products designed to meet the increasingly diverse and sophisticated needs of advisors and their clients.

• Addressing advisors’ needs for lower-cost access to low-volatility managers and strategies, LPL now offers eight of the top ten ETF providers at no transaction charge. LPL Research has also launched coverage of active ETFs to help advisors assess managers to choose from in any market environment.
• LPL announced 200 new SMAs for the MWP platform, including more than 25 additional fixed income options. Advisors can now provide these options at lower fees while still providing an increased level of sophistication and customization that comes with owning securities directly.
• Citing the increasing demand for alternative investment strategies, especially among high-net-worth investors,⁴ LPL highlighted advancements it continues to make in enabling advisors to incorporate more alternative strategies for their clients. This includes the addition of 12 new alts strategies, including hedge fund, drawdown, evergreen and tax deferral strategies. LPL plans to continue this expansion with an additional 50 alternative investment products by the end of 2025.

Focus 2024 continues at the San Diego Convention Center through August 14.

_{¹ The Evolving Future of Wealth Management, Cerulli and Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), November 30, 2023.
² AI in Wealth Management Report Financial Advisor Study, Accenture
³ Verizon’s 2021 Data Breach Investigations Report, Verizon
⁴ High-Net-Worth Investors Embrace Alternative Investments, Cerulli, January 17, 2023.}