Later this year, a giant independent broker-dealer will launch a new mutual fund account for its affiliated financial advisors.

Dan Arnold LPL Financial President

"We're working with some of our mutual fund sponsors to try to develop a no-transaction-fee program for select mutual funds with SAM [Strategic Asset Management]," Dan Arnold, president of LPL Financial, told FAs this morning at the independent broker-dealer's giant annual Focus conference at the San Diego Convention Center.

"We should be ready to roll that out in the fourth quarter of this year," Arnold said.

Arnold did not reveal specifics about the number of mutual funds. Rob Pettman, executive vice president of product management, investment planning and solutions, later told FAs that the plan is to start the program with nine mutual funds and then build it out with more.

Arnold also touched on a number of other subjects, including the industry-wide trend away from brokerage accounts and towards advisory ones.

"We've seen new asset flows go from about 35-percent advisory to about 70-percent" in the last five years, Arnold said, adding that advisory assets for LPL affiliates has doubled to $200 billion in the same time frame.

The LPL team is also developing a tool to simplify the process of shifting an account from brokerage to advisory. That tool, Arnold said, will also debut in Q4.


Arnold framed his remarks with the image of a military unit working together to take a hill:

As your partner, I want us to show up every single day with a take-the-hill mentality. We will strive for nothing less than being extraordinary ... It won't be easy, but we'll take on those challenges together ... We will get up that hill through relentless execution ... We will make mistakes, but we will be accountable for them. If we can't be perect, we'll settle for being extraordinary

LPL, Arnold said, has a "great mission" to deliver independence advice, to Americans, through financial professionals in their local communities.

"American investors need us more than ever," Arnold said. 

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