LPL Financial is integrating its digital platform, ClientWorks, with partners to optimize the service. It was announced in July that ClientWorks would integrate Riskalyze’s risk scoring software to provide advisors with improved account synchronization and monitoring capabilities. The program will provide a seamless data flow from LPL to Riskalyze, giving advisors the ability to link client accounts with corresponding client profiles.
It was also announced in July that LPL Financial would integrate its digital programs with Morningstar Office and Black Diamond’s performance reporting solution.
LPL’s Guided Wealth Portfolios platform, first unveiled a little more than a year ago, has grown faster than any other LPL platform, and had 1,500 advisors using it by July of this year. The platform was recently enhanced to update the landing page, the investor on-boarding experience and the advisor dashboards, along with additional capacity that enables advisor teams to collaborate within the platform, LPL says.
Advisor Group, a large broker-dealer network based in Phoenix that includes FSC Securities in Atlanta; Royal Alliance in Jersey City, N.J.; SagePoint Financial in Phoenix; and Woodbury Financial in Oakdale, Minn., also enhances in-house systems with strategic partnerships.
“Our goal is to provide digital solutions that differentiate our four broker-dealers,” says Ed Obuchowski, chief technology officer for the Advisor Group, who joined the firm earlier this year. “We build platforms in-house, but we also integrate digital solutions. There is a tremendous amount of innovation in the market. We have tried to reach a balance between building and buying.”
Advisor Group uses eQuipt asset management software and integrates it with the firm’s internal programs. It also integrates Morningstar Advisor Workstation, a web-based investment planning platform that has capabilities for research, portfolio analysis, goal planning and sales presentations.
Advisor Group recently launched two programs, MyCMO and My Succession Plan, to give advisors more access to digital marketing material, among other things, and succession planning software.
“The world is changing dramatically for the end client,” Obuchowksi says. “Advisor Group has a tremendous opportunity to deliver the right digital technology to clients, but that will not supplant the human relationship. Digitally, we will continue our advancements to reduce wasted time for advisors. The advisors who are doing well are the ones who evolve with the technology.”