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Ladenburg Launches Enterprise-Level Behavioral Financial Advice Training Program to Fuel Advisor Growth and Success

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Newly-Launched Program Enables Financial Advisors Across Ladenburg’s Subsidiaries to Earn Behavioral Financial Advisor™ Designation

Company Also Makes Successful ‘Next Level’ Business Coaching Program Developed at Securities America Available Throughout Ladenburg Enterprise

MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc. (NYSE American: LTS, LTS PrA) (“Ladenburg”), a publicly-traded, diversified financial services company, today announced that its Ladenburg Practice Management team has launched the Behavioral Financial Advice Training Program to help fuel the growth and success of financial advisors across Ladenburg’s five subsidiary firms: Securities America, Triad Advisors, KMS Financial Services, Investacorp and Securities Service Network (SSN).

Through the Behavioral Financial Advice Training Program, Ladenburg’s highly-qualified Practice Management team of professional business coaches provide industry-leading education and training in order to support advisors in better understanding the psychological makeup of their clients, with a particular emphasis on developing the behavioral coaching expertise needed to help clients avoid making emotional decisions about finances that can lead to negative outcomes.

Kirk Hulett, Head of Practice Management for Ladenburg, said, “Behavioral finance-based coaching is much more than a high-impact tool that financial advisors can use to deepen relationships with clients. Advisors trained in behavioral finance will have an unmistakable edge in building their advice business in a way that is thoroughly consistent with the central building premise of the fiduciary era: Financial advice is most effective when based on a thorough understanding of the goals, motivations and needs of clients. Following highly-successful results during our pilot program at Securities America in recent months, we knew the time was right for Ladenburg to demonstrate its continued dedication to aligning cutting-edge practice management resources with advisors across all of our subsidiary firms with the enterprise-wide launch of our Behavioral Financial Advice Training Program.”

Ladenburg’s Behavioral Financial Advice Training Program, offered in cooperation with professional coaching and leadership consulting firm think2perform, trains advisors to help clients make better financial decisions through a rational, values-based approach; better prepare clients for unplanned life events; and understand how traditional financial practices are driven by psychology and neuroscience. The program allows advisors to move beyond a product focus and to more effectively influence the spending and saving behavior of clients, deepening client relationships and positioning themselves to better attract and retain new clients.

Advisors who successfully complete their Behavioral Financial Advice certification exam are then authorized to use the Behavioral Financial Advisor™ designation, or BFA™.

In a related development, Ladenburg also announced that it will make the innovative ‘Next Level’ business coaching program available to all subsidiaries across the Ladenburg enterprise going forward. Ladenburg’s Next Level business coaching program, which was developed by Securities America 10 years ago for the firm’s advisors, offers accountability coaching to help advisors increase their efficiency and profitability, while achieving a better work-life balance. The first Next Level program offered to all advisors across the Ladenburg enterprise will be held in late April in Chicago.

Adam Malamed, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Ladenburg, said, “Behavioral finance is rapidly emerging as one of the most crucial fields of expertise within our industry, and Ladenburg is pleased to provide all our advisors with innovative training that will place them well ahead of the curve in this field. In this new fiduciary era, the professional growth and success of advisors will increasingly depend on their ability to develop a more robust understanding of what makes their clients tick, and our Behavioral Financial Advice Training Program positions them to accomplish exactly that.”

Mr. Malamed added, “With both our Behavioral Financial Advice Training Program and our Next Level coaching program, Ladenburg is once again demonstrating our commitment to bringing together the intellectual capital, financial resources and institutional expertise that can enable advisors across our subsidiaries to succeed. We are passionate in our belief that there are enormous opportunities for advisors being created by the waves of new innovation in business practices, education, technologies and tools that are reshaping the future of financial advice.”

About Ladenburg

Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc. (NYSE American: LTS, LTS PrA) is a publicly-traded diversified financial services company based in Miami, Florida. Ladenburg’s subsidiaries include industry-leading independent advisory and brokerage (IAB) firms Securities America, Triad Advisors, Securities Service Network, Investacorp and KMS Financial Services, as well as Premier Trust, Ladenburg Thalmann Asset Management, Highland Capital Brokerage, a leading independent life insurance brokerage company, Ladenburg Thalmann Annuity Insurance Services, a full-service annuity processing and marketing company, and Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc., an investment bank which has been a member of the New York Stock Exchange for over 135 years. The company is committed to investing in the growth of its subsidiaries while respecting and maintaining their individual business identities, cultures, and leadership. For more information, please visit www.ladenburg.com.

This press release includes certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding future growth, growth of our independent advisory and brokerage business, future investments and future technology. These statements are based on management’s current expectations or beliefs and are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Actual results may vary materially from those expressed or implied by the statements herein due to changes in economic, business, competitive and/or regulatory factors, including the United States Department of Labor’s rule and exemptions pertaining to the fiduciary status of investment advice providers to 401(k) plans, plan sponsors, plan participants and the holders of individual retirement or health savings accounts, future cash flows, a change in the Company’s dividend policy by the Company’s Board of Directors (which has the ability in its sole discretion to increase, decrease or eliminate entirely the Company’s dividend at any time) and other risks and uncertainties affecting the operation of the Company’s business. These risks, uncertainties and contingencies include those set forth in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017 and other factors detailed from time to time in its other filings with the SEC. The information set forth herein should be read in light of such risks. Further, investors should keep in mind that the Company’s quarterly revenue and profits can fluctuate materially depending on many factors, including the number, size and timing of completed offerings and other transactions. Accordingly, the Company’s revenue and profits in any particular quarter may not be indicative of future results. The Company is under no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any obligation to, update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions or otherwise, except as required by law.

Media Contacts:
Michael Dugan / Jessica Caris
Haven Tower Group
424 652 6520 ext. 106 or ext. 104
mdugan@haventower.com or jcaris@haventower.com

Source: Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc.

Released March 28, 2018