November 20, 2023
Louis Diamond Quoted
by Brooke Southall
LPL Financial is ready to launch a full frontal assault on the cream of Wall Street – its biggest, happiest, highest-margin corner-office brokers– shedding a strategy that, for years, waged tactical war to peel away the big-brand’s small, disgruntled and marginalized traders.
Nuance works but critical mass is essential, too, says Louis Diamond, principal of Diamond Consultants, a recruiting firm.
There are big, worthy sniffy companies that never left the breach.
“The private wealth advisors at wirehouses about half the time, will transition to a competing wirehouse, and many will head towards the cachet of a Rockefeller, JP Morgan, or a multi-family office,” he says.
“Even if this is built right, the fact that LPL is not a bank and isn’t a household name to clients will still deter many advisors on the move. That said, LPL is giving itself a fighting chance at increasing the size of their addressable market.
“If they can get it to scale, having a community of more ‘elite’ advisors with a special designation can help them win some opportunities in the upper end of the market.”
He adds: “Linsco is a very interesting combination of an employee role – real estate, benefits, 401k, staffing, etc. – and independence – book ownership, self-branding, high payouts – 64% to 70%, versus the 50% range for wirehouses – and the ability to sell the business for long-term capital gains,” he says from his New York City office. See: LPL Financial buys its second full-service broker after the first one ‘exceeded expectations’ following a three-year pilot
