Shanghai Connection, Corporate Sustainability | LPL in the News

LPL in the News

Discover how Charles Zhang built his multi-billion-dollar firm, what notable firms recently joined LPL, and how LPL is raising the bar by investing in sustainability and by delivering a new offering.

The Shanghai Connection

In early April, Charles Zhang, founder and president of Portage, Michigan-based Zhang Financial, was profiled in Forbes. Zhang, who has been an independent advisor with LPL for more well over a decade, has been recognized for his growth and firm size, currently managing $4.1 billion in assets.

He grew up in Shanghai and came to the U.S. at age 21 to attend Western Michigan University, and according to the Forbes article, attributes some of his success to the best advice he’s ever received: “Quitters never win, winners never quit.” He also said that he places a premium on picking the right clients, ones that are interested in building relationships and who are enjoyable to work with.

And his investment outlook? While he agrees with many analysts that the next year-plus may be difficult, he’s bullish that the U.S. equity market has the potential to grow over the next 10 years.

Read the full article to discover more about Charles Zhang, including Zhang’s investment strategy, competitive edge, and what keeps him up at night.

LPL Financial’s Recent Joins

Linsco by LPL Financial, LPL’s employee model, continues to attract advisors who are unwilling to go fully independent, yet want more flexibility and ownership than the wirehouses offer. That’s exactly what Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based Lisa Tesar was looking for.

As reported by Financial Advisor IQ, Tesar has joined Linsco under the name Tesar Group Investment & Financial Planning at LPL Financial. Here’s why she made the move from Morgan Stanley: “We were especially drawn to the Linsco model, which allows us to do everything we could do at a large regional firm, but comes with individualized support and resources.”

Three other joins include:

• North Carolina–based advisor Robert Mitchell, whose R.B. Mitchell Team, powered by LPL Financial, is joining LPL from Stifel, as reported by WealthManagement.com.
• Wisconsin-based father/daughter advisory duo Robert Viau and Liz Mengo, who are affiliating with LPL's breakaway platform under the name Northern Lakes Financial Group, as reported by WealthManagement.com.
• LPL’s Strategic Wealth Services is adding brothers-in-law Chad Keeler and Brock Rouch to its platform. Keeler and Rouch are forming their new Casper, Wyoming-based independent practice, Platte River Private Wealth, also reported by WealthManagement.com.

LPL’s Commitment to Sustainability and Diversity

Last month, LPL launched its 2022 Sustainability Report, which showcased growth in sustainable investing, work done by the LPL Financial Foundation, which focuses on advancing the economic well-being of underserved populations, and its dedication to diversity and inclusion, highlighted by a whopping 75 percent of its 2021 interns identifying as a woman or person of color.

Financial Advisor IQ focused specifically on how LPL is moving the needle on diversity in some areas, and where it slipped slightly. For example, the article pointed out that on LPL’s 21-advisor Advisor Inclusion Council, 52% are women financial advisors and 51% are advisors of color. This council meets three times a year to find ways to attract more underrepresented financial advisors, help advisors address barriers to growth and cultivate inclusive communities for advisors. Currently, 17% of advisors associated with LPL are women, and area that the firm is focused on growing.

Other areas of improvement: Women comprised 48% of LPL’s workforce in 2021, up from 46% in 2020, while black employees made up 17%, up from 16% in 2020. Women also represent 33% of LPL’s board, unchanged from 2020.

Financial Advisor IQ also pointed out that the percentage of Hispanic or Latino employees at LPL dropped from 8% in 2020 to 7% in 2021, while Asian employees represented 12% of the firm's workforce last year, down from 13% in 2020.

LPL Launches Paraplanning Services

Aneri Jambusaria, executive vice president of LPL’s Planning & Advice Services, was recently quoted in a ThinkAdvisor article discussing the increasing demand from advisors for broader financial planning, tax planning, and estate planning services. To meet that need, Jambusaria said, “We’re working on building out a set of services that helps our advisors be able to expand their value proposition more effectively.”

One of the first steps was to build and launch a new Paraplanning Services offering with the goal of helping advisors, especially those with smaller practices, reduce time they need to spend on completing a financial plan. Paraplanning Services operates as an extension of advisors’ practices and provides support through the use of paraplanners to deliver financial planning services to clients, helping advisors grow their capacity to deliver personalized advice.

Up next? LPL is testing a tax planning service and an offering for advisors with high-net-worth clients.

^Disclaimers

^{The views and opinions expressed by the LPL Financial Advisor(s) may not be representative of the views of other Financial Advisors and are not indicative of future performance or success. Neither LPL Financial nor the LPL Financial Advisor can be held responsible for any direct or incidental loss incurred by applying any of the information offered.}

^{Zhang Financial and LPL Financial are separate entities.}