Henschen: Is It the Right Time to Check Out These 4 BDs?

LPL Financial

Longines Master Collection L26734783, $3,475. Movement: Automatic mechanical; power reserve: 46 hours; case size: 40 mm; crystal: sapphire; case: stainless steel; water resistance: 30 mm.

Longines is one of 18 watch companies owned by the Swatch Group, the largest watchmaker in the world. Watch features beyond telling time are referred to as complications, and watches in this Master Collection have a very high degree of complications. Functions include hours, minutes and seconds within a 24-hour indicator at 9 o’clock, a date indicator by the half-moon central hand, a moon phase display at 6 o’clock, and a data and month display at 12 o’clock.

With such a high degree of complications you’d expect the watch to be rather thick, but this watch is surprisingly thin at 14.30 millimeters. Longines’ proprietary Swiss movement along with its high degree of complications/features makes this watch the only watch in its price range to bring such a combination of high quality and complications due to the scale of Longines’ manufacturing volume.

Being the largest IBD with 20,000 advisors, the ability to offer more for less due to its scale is a given for LPL Financial. Having in-house clearing only adds to is profitability advantages compared to other large firms that don’t self-clear.

Like the Longines Master Collection watch, LPL has numerous complications/offerings in business models, technology and services. Whether you are an RIA, independent advisor, bank/credit union rep or wirehouse advisor needing office space supplied for you, LPL has multiple options to fit many needs. On technology, LPL supplies a base tech stack with a broad selection of a la cart add-on technology at deep discounts.

Services are another standout, providing licensed and trained virtual assistants, an information technology department that helps you outsource, as well as digital marketing services that yield a 90% average increase in traffic and a 45% average annual increase in social media connections and e-mail open rates that are double the industry average. It also provide CFO solutions that help advisors build better practices and accelerate growth.

Pricing is another area of value at LPL, one being billing and performance reporting on advisory services for as low as 3 basis points. This undercuts much competition. Like the Longines Master Collection watch, LPL’s scale and services provide a high degree of quality and value.

(Photo: Longines)