A Profound Focus
Our team is affiliated with LPL Financial, one of the largest and most respected financial firms that provides services to independent advisors, banks and credit unions. We are not employees of LPL, rather, we hire LPL to provide services to us. We use services such as technology, investment research, due diligence, financial planning resources and continuing education among many other things, so that we can run our independent office as we best see fit. I explain it to my clients like this: think of the many different restaurants in our city. Some are independently owned and operated where the chef can create the menu, and the owner can set the ambiance of the dining experience as he or she sees fit. That is the model of the independent advisor. Other restaurants are corporate chains, where the menu is the same from location to location, the cooks in the kitchen do not get to create, and the dining atmosphere is relatively the same. That is the model of the institution for its advisors and clients. Both restaurants may buy their food stock from the same wholesale company, but you can expect the customer experiences and results to be very different.
LPL’s annual flagship conference is Focus. We fly across the country each year to immerse ourselves in three solid days and evenings of learning, networking and revitalization. My focus at our 2024 Focus included numerous sessions on our ever-changing complex tax laws, the current economic outlook, and a Washington update, contrasting how each presidential candidate’s platform would impact our clients’ financial lives. I had deep conversations with investment managers, economists, market technicians and global investment strategists. I attended sessions on anti-money laundering, compliance regulations, and cybersecurity. I visited booths in our expo center that demonstrated new technologies for financial planning, for tax planning, for client relationship management, and research. I wove in sessions on effective communication, on how to lead a productive and strong staff, as well as do’s and don’ts for our own business structure. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were great times to network with other top advisors from across the country, sharing winning ideas and success stories. And, so much more!
I was humbled and honored this year to have been one of just five advisors, out of the over 5,500 advisors in attendance, to be personally invited to a very special dinner with our CEO, Dan Arnold, and Chairman of the Board, Jim Putnam. Our dinner was an intimate couple of hours to get to ask the questions that were on our minds and offer feedback to the very top leadership of LPL Financial. The interest that Dan and Jim took in learning about our business and our clients’ experiences was inspiring. We discussed our day-to-day processes and philosophies of how we provide deep, personalized advice and investment management for our clients. We discussed the operations challenges that we experience and where greater efficiencies can be created. We discussed the next level of thinking that LPL should be considering. At the top of the list among Dan and Jim’s concerns for advisors was, how are we preparing our clients’ families to inherit the wealth that their parents will leave to them? What more can LPL provide and what can we as advisors do, to prepare our next generation of clients for the day when the family legacy will be handed to them? It was moving for me to experience the care that LPL’s leadership has for us, for our clients, and for the families of our clients: the people that we cherish so deeply and to whom we dedicate our very best work. What an absolutely profound Focus!
LouAnn Schulfer of Schulfer & Associates, LLC Wealth Management can be reached at (715) 343-9600 or louann.schulfer@lpl.com TheWealthInformationLady.com SchulferAndAssociates.com , or louann.biz
Securities and advisory services offered through LPL Financial, a Registered Investment Advisor. Member FINRA/SIPC.
