LPL preparing two tech additions for advisers and their clients

LPL Financial is getting ready to drop two significant technology tools for its more than 14,000 advisers: a finished robo-platform and a new mobile app for clients. The robo-platform, which is called Guided Wealth Portfolios and has been in the works for at least two years, will launch this month. The LPL app, which will act as a window into clients' accounts, will be rolled out gradually with testing by the end of this year and the start of the next, said Andy Kalbaugh, LPL's managing director and divisional president, national sales and consulting. He was speaking to reporters Tuesday morning in Boston at LPL's annual meeting for its advisers, Focus. LPL has been wading carefully into the burgeoning automated investment management business. Two years ago, Dan Arnold, then LPL president and now CEO, said the firm was launching a robo-platform and was working with a small number of advisers to do so. Then in April 2016, LPL said it was using BlackRock's FutureAdvisor for its adviser-driven digital advice platform. Like other brokerage firms, LPL intends to use the automated platform to work with clients who have smaller accounts. LPL has been careful not to dump new technology on all of its advisers at once, Mr. Kalbaugh noted. Brokerage firms have historically had problems smoothly delivering wide-ranging technology changes to their advisers. Guided Wealth Portfolios "was a pilot, so we were learning from it and trying to make sure we were doing it as a thoughtful launch," Mr. Kalbaugh said. "We built it to help solve a need that advisers saw, to deliver portfolio construction to a segment of their client base." "We wanted them to be part of the pilot so they could say what works or let's improve that and be part of the process," he said. "We are now comfortable where we are with the feedbacks and test and ready to go live later this month." Meanwhile, Mr. Arnold announced on Monday that LPL was launching an app for mobile phones. Mr. Kalbaugh said that advisers would be able to brand the app to their businesses. "We are trying to be the intermediary," he said. "Everything we are producing has the ability to put the adviser's name, brand or (doing business as/DBA) on it, whether that's in the app or client statements." "We want to be the support behind the scenes," Mr. Kalbaugh said. "The large majority of advisers prefer to have their name and brand out there. It's all built with that in mind."