LPL Consulting Program Gets Underway

The Enterprise Management Consulting program from LPL Financial was created to assist affiliated large enterprises with growth, profitability and adviser support.

The program works with LPL’s affiliated large enterprises (“aggregators” of independent adviser practices with minimum annual revenues of $5 million) to provide highly customized business strategy consultations and planning geared at enhancing growth, profitability and the value-add these firms provide to their underlying independent adviser practices. The Enterprise Management Consulting team acts as a supplemental resource to the existing senior executive suites of LPL Financial’s affiliated large enterprises.

Sal Zambito, senior vice president of business consulting at LPL Financial, is head of the Enterprise Management Consulting Team. Zambito has more than 25 years industry experience, including ten years of practice management experience, and has previously served as an executive consultant to a number of LPL Financial-affiliated large enterprises.

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Through an assessment and analysis of the business goals of each large enterprise, as well as one-on-one meetings with the management team of each firm, the Enterprise Management Consulting team will develop a “success plan” based on four elements:

 

  • Financial management;
  • Operational efficiency;
  • Growth maximization; and
  • Organization design.

 

“As affiliated enterprises grow into more institutionalized firms, it is crucial to reinvest in growth that prioritizes their ability to add maximum value to their underlying advisers’ practices, and to do so in a scalable fashion,” Zambito said.

The Enterprise Management Consulting program was launched in partnership with The Ensemble Practice, a management consulting firm focused on financial advice led by Phillip Palaveev. The Ensemble Practice will assist the Enterprise Management Consulting team in developing the assessment process and engagement deliverables.

Derek Bruton, managing director at LPL Financial, observed that the large enterprises are continuing to grow and succeed, but with success will also come certain unique challenges. “Not only are the leaders of these firms faced with normal day-to-day business management activities, but their time is also needed at an executive level for strategy and goal setting,” Bruton said. “Our large enterprise consulting model allows them the opportunity to truly focus on important ‘C’ level thinking and decision making, in order to achieve the highest potential for their firms and the advisory practices they support.”

Franklin Templeton Expands TDF Lineup

Franklin Templeton Investments introduced four new funds within the company’s retirement target-date fund (TDF) lineup.

The Franklin LifeSmart 2020, 2030, 2040 and 2050 Retirement Target funds will complement the existing 2015, 2025, 2035 and 2045 Retirement Target funds. The investment goal of each fund is to seek the highest level of long-term total return consistent with its specific asset allocation. Each fund’s allocation is designed for investors who are planning to retire around the target year indicated in the fund’s name. The funds invest their assets primarily in other Franklin Templeton mutual funds.

“This approach best addresses the competing goals of reaching retirement with the highest expected portfolio value but with the greatest amount of certainty,” said Tom Nelson, the funds’ co-lead portfolio manager. “Following a ‘to retirement’ glide path serves to help reduce sequencing risk—the risk of sustaining a large loss near retirement that impacts the portfolio’s longevity potential.”

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Over time, each LifeSmart fund’s allocation will change as it follows its predetermined glide path, but the managers also have the flexibility to make adjustments along the way. In allocating the funds’ assets, the funds’ managers adhere to both a top-down and bottom-up tactical discipline. They identify short-term market dislocations and opportunities and implement small tactical shifts within asset classes.

The funds’ portfolio managers, Tony Coffey and Tom Nelson, are supported by the Franklin Templeton Multi-Asset Strategies (FTMAS) team, which includes more than 30 dedicated professionals. FTMAS employs both strategic and tactical asset allocation to create diversified outcome-oriented portfolios focused on risk-adjusted performance and tailored to client needs.

Franklin LifeSmart funds are designed for investors who want the simplicity of an asset allocation fund paired with a risk management approach, active and flexible portfolio management and a specialized multi-asset strategy team managing complex investment decisions. For more information, click here

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