PRACTICE MANAGEMENT FINALISTS

Innovative Firms

LPL Financial

Advisers have become increasingly interested in M&A to monetize their businesses and LPL Financial provides them with a single point of contact, an expert to navigate the process from valuation, due diligence, deal structuring and negotiation, through contracts and financing. Meanwhile, advisers can use LPL’s tool for quickly updating the worth of a business at any point in time, reducing back-and-forth over valuations.

Most deals fit into three or four typical formats. Streamlining the activities and weaving in technology helps to scale. “We’ve demystified M&A and speeded the process, all accomplished at a lower stress level,” said Greg Cornick, executive vice president of finance and head of adviser financial solutions.

It can often take six to 12 months after the matchmaking to complete a transaction. Using the single touch point, LPL aims to reduce that time to 60 days or fewer. And whereas some firms perform the valuation, documentation and accessing of capital, LPL goes the extra mile, by tying in the backend with integration and transitioning of the book.

– Vanessa Drucker