LPL expands technology team with two more executive hires

LPL Financial continues to expand the executive leadership of its technology team with veterans of other large financial institutions.

The broker-dealer, which supports 21,000 financial advisors, announced Thursday that it added Nitesah Ambastha and Kristie Edling-Day as executive vice presidents and group chief information officers. Ambastha will oversee technology experience for investors, while Edling-Day will handle the digital experience for advisors.

“Their extensive backgrounds in the technology industry will create a dynamic synergy for technical advancements that will enable LPL’s advisors and institutions to thrive and grow in their respective businesses,” Greg Gates, LPL managing director and chief technology and information officer, said in a statement.

Edling-Day joins LPL after 17 years at Vanguard, where she most recently served as chief information officer and head of technology for the asset manager’s financial advisor services and institutional investor groups. The two groups collectively represented $5 trillion in assets under management, according to Edling-Day’s LinkedIn profile.

At LPL, Edling-Day will lead the ongoing development of ClientWorks, LPL’s digital dashboard for financial advisors that handles trading, account servicing and support.

“As we look to the future of technology at LPL, whether it’s a digital interaction through ClientWorks or through a phone call into a help desk, we envision an experience that is both integrated across a diverse set of tools and solutions and personalized in a way that feels 'unique-to-you,'” Edling-Day said in the statement.

Ambastha will focus on delivering new products for prospect and client management, custodian and clearing services, practice management and wealth planning. He will also lead investor-facing functionality in the Account View client portal. Ambastha joins LPL from J.P. Morgan, where he was the chief technology officer.

The announcement comes one week after LPL announced the addition of Vivek Pappu, the former head of advisor platforms at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, as executive vice president of the investor and investment solutions team and chief analytics and data officer. Pappu was hired to lead LPL’s foray into artificial intelligence applications for financial advisors.

Earlier this year, LPL hired Tim Checko from Merrill to head the development and management of technology and investment products for LPL advisors, and Cory Triolo from Bank of America, which owns Merrill, to oversee the design of web and mobile apps used by advisors and investors.

In April 2022, Merrill’s former head of digital platform joined LPL as chief product officer.

The company did not respond to a request for comment.