Dan Arnold Provides Insight into LPL’s Success Pre & Post Pandemic

Last Edited by: LPL Financial

Last Updated: August 20, 2021

LPL CEO and President Dan Arnold image

CEO Dan Arnold sheds light on LPL’s success through the pandemic.

For many companies, the pandemic created more than just concern over how to move forward in their business. Across the country, company leaders and teams were forced to re-evaluate how they would move forward in the best way for those that depended on them. For LPL Financial, that meant considering not only its 4,000 employees and their families, but the 18,000 valued financial advisors, their families, and their clients’ families as well.

Fortunately, months prior, LPL Financial was experiencing a cultural shift that would perfectly position LPL to, not only survive, but thrive through the pandemic. In a recent episode of “The Playbook,” hosted by well-known businessman and speaker David Meltzer, Dan Arnold was invited to share more insights on how LPL unknowingly found itself in the perfect position to successfully pivot in a challenging year.

LPL Financial positioned for continued success

When the pandemic hit, LPL was already thriving due to a variety of new initiatives, all with one common goal: help advisors so they can help their clients. For LPL, the motivation to create industry-leading technology and tools, with unmatched support, comes from a desire to help financial professionals find success and connect with their clients. These initiatives, coupled with a favorable pre-pandemic market, placed LPL in a good position to “invest in the pandemic rather than retreat,” according to Dan Arnold.

This investment meant growing, enriching, and supporting LPL Financial’s teams, and optimizing work-from-home experiences. This allowed LPL to continue innovating, iterating, and discovering new ways to help financial advisors navigate what Dan Arnold describes as a “world that had changed so quickly overnight.” LPL also expanded its catalogue of products and services so both small-scale and large-scale advisors could experience the support they needed where, and when, it mattered most in a changing world.

Answering a challenging question

Investing also meant reflecting on values from the start of the pandemic by asking ‘what are the most important things we need to focus on.’ These answers became the “principles of [LPL’s] strategy to work through the pandemic” and would ultimately reflect the core of the cultural shift Dan Arnold put into motion months before. Regarding the two answers, Dan Arnold states:

“… [First], protect the safety and health of all of the employees at LPL and all of the advisors we work with. [Second], make sure that we took care of our advisors so they could continue taking care of their clients and their families.”

Arnold notes that LPL’s initial founding, over 30 years ago, was fueled by a vision to bring objectivity, higher quality, and accessibility in the market. And, at that time, would have been viewed as an innovative “disruptor” to the industry. That same vision continues fueling LPL, through a modern lens, and appeals to today’s financial advisors and professionals looking to build their vision of success. Arnold shared more on this appeal, saying, “[Advisors] can create their own business, design and engineer the perfect practice for themselves, and have all the resources and capabilities wrapped around them but, in an independent, stand-alone way.” The goal of providing advanced technology and industry-leading innovative services, is to ultimately allow advisors to better connect with their clients. It’s a role that’s valued at LPL and seen a key aspect of the success of the financial industry as a whole.

The “super power” of prioritization

When host Dan Meltzer commends him on the “super-power” of being able to successfully define and prioritize goals in a crucial time, Dan Arnold places the spotlight back on LPL Financial as a whole. “The team did a great job in making the pivot,” he replies, adding “…we were clear on what our principles [were].”

Despite the challenging past months, demand for financial advisors and financial professionals will continue to grow as the market is expected to reach $24 trillion by 2022. Competition between financial professionals will also increase, and LPL aims to continue building the tools and services that help advisors compete and connect—starting with investing over $1.3 billion in tech and support.

As Dan Arnold noted during LPL’s Focus 2021, “We're as committed as ever to helping [financial professionals] evolve [their] perfect practice for tomorrow and the next day.” By keeping the focus on personalization, LPL Financial remains in the ideal position to be prepared, and keep financial professionals prepared, for what the future brings. 

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