I worked with an independent financial advisor rather than LPL directly, so I’ll try to confine my comments to working with the LPL back office, however I should mention that 90% of advisors/brokers have zero administrative or people management skills, and if you get stuck with one that is totally chaotic and disorganized, then they’ll ruin your personal life as well as your career. I couldn’t even enjoy my weekends as I was so sick with anxiety and dread due to thinking about what landmine I was doomed to step on when I returned to the office.
As for LPL, they treat their brokers and clients like total criminals, which tells you everything that you need to know about working there. The level of security protocols that are in place—especially around money movement—have become so extreme that day-to-day business is almost unworkable. A spouse can’t make a contribution from their joint account to an IRA without written authorization from the other spouse, for example. Regarding business processing, there are dozens of forms just to move money, and each one has a built-in gotcha in order to ensure that it’s gonna get bounced NIGO. There is little formal training, so you’re basically condemned to learning their counter-intuitive processes through trial and error. There is some training online, but it’s very basic and not especially helpful.
The technology, BranchNet, is appallingly outdated, as most other reviewers have noted. They’re about 7 to 10 years behind competitors. Forms and processes change frequently and without announcement, thus guaranteeing that you’re set up for failure. There’s not one combined screen to view all the clients arrangements/systematic money movements, so you’re forced to scroll through each account in order to figure out where money is coming in and/or going out. You can’t even access the combined statement that the client receives. BranchNet’s greatest weakness is that it’s terrible with householding and storing client account data, which is incredible since that’s its primary function. Functions which should be automated, such as householding client accounts, adding them to a combined statement and the client-facing website, or reimbursing fees, all have to be done manually, which are frustrating wastes of time. I don’t know where LPL spends all of its money, but it sure isn’t on technology or internal resources. If you’re coming here from another broker/dealer (first of all: DON’T), you’re in for a huge shock.
Calls to internal service partners frequently yield incomplete or inaccurate information, likely because they seem to have very high turnover as noted in other reviews. I can’t believe that I lasted as long as I have in this position. Oh, and there’s zero opportunity for career growth, along with the most insane micro-management that I’ve ever encountered, so there’s that to look forward to. Traumatic, no-win nightmare overall. Reading the positive company reviews makes me question reality. I’ve never been more relieved to quit a job.
