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Ladenburg Concludes Inaugural Innovation Symposium to Identify Transformative Fin Tech Solutions

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Invitation-Only Event Brings Together Elite Group of Early-Stage Technology Start-Up CEOs, Venture Capital Funds and Leading Independent Financial Advisors

Event Serves as Launching Point for “Test Driving” of High-Potential Technology Solutions and Ideas Through Active Collaboration Between Ladenburg and Advisors

MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc. (NYSE American: LTS, LTSL, LTS PrA) (“Ladenburg”), a publicly-traded, diversified financial services company, today announced the successful conclusion of the firm’s inaugural Innovation Symposium, held on May 22 in San Francisco. The invitation-only event brought together CEOs of early-stage, venture-backed fin tech start-ups, leaders of technology-focused venture capital firms and an elite group of growth-oriented financial advisors specially selected from Ladenburg’s five subsidiary independent advisory and brokerage (IAB) firms: Securities America, Triad Advisors, KMS Financial Services, Investacorp and Securities Service Network.

The Ladenburg Innovation Symposium enables leaders from the technology start-up and venture capital spaces to come together with forward-looking financial advisors to examine compelling new technology-driven solutions and ideas that have the potential to fundamentally redefine the delivery of financial advice. The event, held this year at highly-regarded co-working space and innovation hub Runway, is intended to function as a launching point for Ladenburg to collaborate closely with its advisors throughout the rest of the year in a highly-structured program geared toward testing prospective high-impact solutions, ideas and business practices that can be further developed and addressed by the start-up community. The event also serves to guide and inform Ladenburg’s ongoing efforts to identify opportunities for potential selective investments in technology start-ups throughout the country that demonstrate significant potential to shape the future of the financial advice industry.

Adam Malamed, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Ladenburg, said, “Our inaugural Ladenburg Innovation Symposium provides an ideal jumping-off point for us to lead the way, in close partnership with our financial advisors, to identify and capture opportunities that will drive transformative change for our entire industry. Bringing together growth-oriented financial advisors, technology entrepreneurs and venture capital executives in an intimate setting that emphasizes structured brainstorming is just the first step in a disciplined and collaborative process to bring revolutionary ideas to fruition on behalf of our advisors. These efforts reflect our conviction that the best days are yet to come for the financial advice industry, and that the greatest growth opportunities are within the reach of well-resourced firms that actively engage with their advisors in areas that are at the intersection of innovation, strategy and technology.”

Dan Sachar, Vice President for Enterprise Innovation at Ladenburg and Head of the Ladenburg Innovation Lab, said, “We’re delighted with the level of energy and creativity that shaped our inaugural Innovation Symposium. Our advisors and home office leadership teams gained valuable new perspectives on the trends and ideas that will redefine our industry in the coming years, together with a clear blueprint of next steps on how we can collaborate with one another to get ahead of the curve and position ourselves for accelerated growth opportunities.”

The Innovation Symposium demonstrated the rapid progress of the Ladenburg Innovation Lab, launched earlier this year as the centerpiece of the company’s enterprise innovation initiative, and geared toward accelerating the development and rollout of technology, processes and tools to power the growth of its IAB subsidiary firms and their affiliated advisors.

As part of the post-event process, Ladenburg will enable the advisors to ‘test drive’ newly-identified technology-driven solutions and ideas within their own businesses throughout the year, with hands-on monitoring of results and data to drive further investment, adoption and implementation decisions across Ladenburg’s network of over 4,300 financial advisors.

Organized as a high-energy, one-day sequence of presentations and collaborative discussions, the event encompassed the following key highlights:

  • In-depth discussions about millennials and how their preferences regarding financial advice are evolving in tandem with rising incomes and personal net worth from the research team of event host Runway
  • Insights from leading fintech investor Michael Sigal of 500 Start-Ups about how venture capitalists currently view the financial advice space and the world of financial technology
  • Presentations providing a ground-level view of the specific solutions Silicon Valley technology businesses are developing to move the financial advice industry into the future, delivered by CEOs and founding executives of five specially selected, venture-backed start-ups. Key areas covered included revolutionary solutions in financial planning powered by artificial intelligence, retirement savings, automated tax solutions, and new approaches to advisor-client communication
  • Following the start-up presentations, in a structured, advisors-only session led by ideation consulting firm Kromatic, participants formulated new ideas based on the solutions and approaches they heard throughout the day to help move their own practices – and potentially the industry – further toward the future of financial advice
  • In a concluding session, the 36 financial advisors participating in the event developed and agreed upon collaborative next steps to work closely with the Ladenburg Innovation Lab throughout the year to further develop and test some of the most promising ideas produced at the event

Mr. Sachar concluded, “One of the single most important aspects of our Innovation Symposium is the strong consensus among all of its participants that this should be much more than an isolated event that concludes when the attendees and presenters go home. We’re excited by the participants’ desire to actively work with one another in a disciplined and ongoing process that aligns great ideas with concrete action plans and tangible outcomes. The greatest results in innovation are spurred by ongoing, active engagement conducted in a spirit of true partnership, and we look forward to all that we can accomplish together with our advisors and subsidiary firms.”

About Ladenburg

Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc. (NYSE American: LTS, LTSL, 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, future efforts to discover and implement technology solutions, and future technology expenditures. 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 and the SEC’s proposed rules and interpretations concerning the standards of conduct for broker dealers and investment advisers when dealing with retail investors, 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.

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

Source: Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc.

Released May 29, 2018