What issues are you having with LPL so I’ll know if my BD is any better?

You said you were 99% happy before, and now only 95% happy. What, other than the fast growth, worries you about LPL?

Thanks for your replies.

West, my experience, although shorter (three years this August), is eerily similar to yours.  Aside from what you’ve said, I notice that more things fall through the cracks than used to…we have to follow absolutely everything to the bitter end to make sure that things happen.  I’m also lower on the production ladder ($300K), so a few of the perks you described (stock ownership) don’t trickle down to my level, and I question whether the service is as good as you describe.  Definitely not if you are high enough on the production ladder to have the special service team with the non-published number.

IndyOne:

Interesting.  I do a lot of direct business also for the same reasons.  I was starting to think I was the only one who really objected to a $5 nuisance fee to send a confirm.  I've got some stocks and bonds and about 35% of my business is in the SAM platform, so about 40% of my business is direct.  With the exception of what I'm putting in SAM and a few structured notes, that's where my new business is going.

WestH - I just went through the effort and due diligence; I didn’t take as long as I should have to research a whole bunch of firms but did do so at some level with roughly 4-5 firms.  I just NEXT Financial, having joined them with the believe that ownership would mean a voice and more but what I found was service and competence as well as the ability to support and process my business was far more important, and after a few years at NEXT I realized that I was losing business and my net because of their inability to do those things I just mentioned.  I didn’t talk to LPL because of the worries you have were worries I had and I didn’t want to leave one place to still face the same troubles at another, which was my focus.  I do want to make one comment specific to what you stated about Pershing, I been with 3 firms that use Pershing and have had various levels of satisfaction with them.  Given the fact that you do a lot of your business direct, you won’t interact with Pershing hardly at all.  Your interaction will be more in the way of your new b/d’s back office and their account aggregation technology like Albridge.  If you find a b/d that has exceptional support with competent and experienced staff that also uses Albridge (or another quality aggregator - avoid Investigo) you will find peace of mind.  Keep us updated!

Excuse my lack of typing ability but my first line to second line should read:

I doubt LPL can fix their problems. I have been with them 18 months from Jones and the only thing that Jones has over LPL is the quality of the back room. As for service, forget it. We have a standing policy to have three things to do while waiting on hold for their support staff to get answers. I will say they are considerate and pleasant but they don't know _____.

Thanks for your input Region & Foot.

WestH - Obviously in my opinion the negative comments are true.  I voiced many of my problems with NEXT on this forum under “NEXT Financial bad firm”  but most of it boiled down to their complete chaotic and ad hoc way operation.  They have tremendous back ofc turnover and lack any level of competence in their back ofc when it comes to supporting their advisors and ability to process business.  Now in terms of their awards let me just say that when the time comes around for voting I get bombarded with emails from the home ofc telling me to vote and reminding me to vote and all these other little messages/campaigns.  In the end, I think they stack the deck a bit but you know, what does that award truly mean anyway?  How many reps that buy or bought ownership in the firm are going to voice dissatisfaction publicly when it can hurt their own investment?  If you continue to look at NEXT, see if they will produce information in writing on how their stock is priced, formula used and future plan for this program.  Ask about what their turnover is in both the back office and among their reps.  What is their plan as a firm over the next 3,5,7 years.  What are the plans for their new broker/dealer they are looking to create or their proprietary “product” WE2.  There are so many cloak and dagger type things going on with NEXT that it should really scare the heck out of the people there if they just took the time to look underneath the covers.  My opinion is if you are dissatisfied with the level of competence, support and response to your needs at LPL you will be at a minimum equally dissatisfied, but more likely far less satisfied than what you will have with NEXT. 

Region, based on your research, what Indy firms would you consider moving to?

BG - for me I had a couple particulars I was looking for based on what I already stated on this thread; those were most important.  I looked at several that were certainly strong in the support areas and continued digging deeper with them.  I liked firms that also had a small enough size that there was some personality to the culture of the firm, some opportunities to network among fellow advisors etc., but also the type of culture that was pro-independent as much as regulators would allow.  In the end I went with a JNL firm - not to say they are the best at all that I was looking for, but I just gained the most comfort from them in my process than I did with the others I looked at. 

WestH,  OOPS... meant

WestH,  I  was happy at EJ in the past and am not impressed with their future growth desires but I’m curious, do/don’t you think there is a big difference between LPL’s rampant growth and EJ’s?   Specifically “You work FOR EJ but LPL works FOR YOU.”   Wouldn’t you have more power since LPL management knows the risk of voting with your clients dollars by moving them elsewhere?   Clearly it would be a big undertaking to move between indy firms but surely it couldn’t be like the challenge of initially moving clients from EJ or wire to indy. <?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Re: soon having to place all VA orders through LPL’s platform, I believe that’s the writing on the wall being made clear to all firms.  I’ve heard both EJ & ML use the same vendor’s clunky, redundant, burdensome annuity processing program now due to increased industry-wide regulatory scrutiny.   As long as LPL doesn’t do the RJ haircut, I’d view it as almost industry norms that have (d)evolved. 

Lets assume hypothetically that both EJ and LPL now have 20-25,000 advisors.  For EJ, clearly the size benefits the GPs and not the FAs nor necessarily the clients.  For LPL can they make this growth still benefit the advisors?  How?

Finally, WestH, I realize this was not the intention of your post but might you share with us your assets and production were at point of departure from EJ and your ultimate success at moving client accounts and assets?       

Thank you.

Superman:

Again, Edward Jones is an excellent firm.  I truly appreciates them giving me an opportunity to be hired, train, & work for them.  But after 7 yrs at Jones, I started looking around, wondering why Jones only does meetings w/ just other Jones reps & never mix w/ other reps.  When I got passed over for my LP, when compliance started to tell me how to run my business from 2,000 miles away & to tell me that I can't sell other funds besides the 7 preferred (esp when we have several other non-preferreds which are much more recognizable in our city).  If I'm in a little bitty town (a Jones town), & if I'm  & the bank is the only choice in town, then I'm all set.  But I'm in a big city, so the Jones model doesn't fit in very well.  At the time, I didn't mind the 40% payout that much, but what really bothers me is that I get back even a fraction of the 60% that I send to Jones.  With fast DSL internet coming on, why are we still using satelites?  & why are we being charged over $2000 a month for technology (computers, printers, etc.), when you can buy a couple of Dell computers for a few hundred that'll last a while.  I was contributing a lot of time & effort to Jones to recruit new brokers for Jones' "healthy growth" initiative, but was really bothered that they don't spend enough on the "healthy retention" aspect of it.  What really got me thinking & moving was the thought that if I work for Jones another 20 yrs, & when I retire, & if one of my kids don't take over the business, I just have to "Goodknight" my office assets over to a new Jones broker & walk away empty handed.  That was then, I don't know if they have a good transition program now.  But at least LPL is partnered w/ FP Transitions to sell your book when you retire.

WestH…if you’ve read any of my posts, you know I’m not a humble poster…but that was a great post.  I’m in lockstep with your thoughts and I appreciate not only getting started in this business but having the guts to say “hey, whats on the other side of the fence”.  However, I would be hard pressed to think I could move a step higher than what I have right now, but after I have 9 years at LPL, my thoughts could change. 

Thanks guys.

West H   You are the smartest person on this site.  I have never saw any post on here as good as your and as well written.  You can tell that you are probably the most succesful person on this site.   For the first time I am very impressed.