The DC industry has been waiting to see if Bill Chetney, EVP at LPL’s Retirement Partner Group, would remain at the firm when his deal ended this year as part of the acquisition of NRP three years ago. Many speculated that Chetney — a dyed-in-the-wool entrepreneur recently named by NAPA as one of the top 10 innovators in the DC industry — would move on to to his next venture. Instead, LPL has named him as the President of LPL Retirement Partners, a newly created position.
LPL enjoys 32,000 DC plans, $3 million participants and $94 billion. Over the course of the last three years they recruited 400 elite plan advisors, highlighting the growing importance of retirement at LPL and two heralding important trends in the DC advisor market:
• Power Shift. By aggregating so many assets, plans and participants under one organization, LPL, along with a few other broker dealers and specialty groups, is at the forefront of a power shift from record keepers to advisors. Though record keepers are important — providing the infrastructure that the DC systems relies on to run efficiently — advisors are client-facing, and as such are the key to improving outcomes through their personal engagement with participants.
• Growth of Teams. LPL Retirement and groups within LPL, like Pensionmark, Sheridan Road and RBG, highlight the growing importance of teams. To really compete and weather price compressions, advisors need to join teams that share resources and brand. LPL, like the few other focused broker dealers (almost of which are NAPA Firm Partners) is providing the institutional support to foster and house those teams.
