LPL Consulting Program Gets Underway

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.

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.”