Ladenburg Launches Retirement Plan Consulting Platform to Accelerate Delivery of Enhanced Solutions from Financial Advisors to Retirement Plan Sponsors

New Platform Delivers Expanded Technology, Reporting, Marketing and Practice Management Resources to Financial Advisors Seeking to Grow in Retirement Plan Space

MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc. (NYSE American: LTS, LTSL, LTS PrA, LTSF) (“Ladenburg”), a publicly-traded, diversified financial services company, today announced the launch of its Retirement Plan Consulting Platform, which will combine ongoing consulting support with enhanced software tools, training and other resources to facilitate growth for retirement plan-focused advisors across its five independent advisory and brokerage (IAB) subsidiaries: Securities America, Triad Advisors, KMS Financial Services, Investacorp and Securities Service Network. The platform represents an expansion of Ladenburg’s existing resources for retirement plan-focused advisors, demonstrating the firm’s continuing commitment to supporting the professional success of advisors in this vital segment of the financial advice space.

Richard Lampen, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ladenburg, said, “While most plan sponsors work with a financial advisor, it is increasingly important for plan advisors and the firms that support them to significantly expand the value they provide to retirement plan sponsors, and serve a role in boosting the retirement readiness of workers across the country. Our new Retirement Plan Consulting Platform meets these goals, while representing another step forward in mobilizing Ladenburg’s financial capital, intellectual capital, technology and other resources to provide our IAB firms and their advisors with the industry-leading tools and expertise they need to succeed.”

Ladenburg’s new platform will enable advisors affiliated with the firm’s subsidiaries to deliver significant incremental value to clients in the retirement plan segment of the wealth management space by providing them with robust product selection options, enhanced investment monitoring capabilities, fee and expense benchmarking reports, as well as FINRA-reviewed, pre-approved marketing materials and educational content, among other resources.

Additionally, the Retirement Plan Consulting Platform’s practice management and coaching features will provide advisors with training, techniques and insights to help them effectively prepare for meetings with plan sponsors to review investment options and recommend needed changes; create model portfolios for plan participants; assist participants with enrollment and explain plan fees and expenses to satisfy sponsors’ concerns.

The new platform has been designed to help each of the firm’s roughly 1,800 advisors who serve retirement plan clients accelerate the growth of their retirement plan business and better address sponsor clients’ needs, regardless of the advisor’s level of experience – whether generalist, intermediate or specialist:

• Specialist advisors who have businesses that are substantially or completely focused on serving retirement plan sponsors will benefit from the Retirement Plan Consulting Platform’s significant enhancements with pricing on vendor support and an array of technology-enabled tools that specifically target more complex retirement plan support needs.
• For intermediate advisors managing several plans while still focusing on traditional wealth management activities, the platform will provide coaching, best practices and ongoing consulting support, enabling them to grow the retirement side of their businesses.
• For generalist advisors overseeing one or two retirement plans in addition to their core wealth management practices, the platform will provide tools to help them gain expertise and expand their presence in the space.
• Advisors seeking to enter the retirement plan market will benefit from turnkey solutions that provide the foundational knowledge and skills they will need to pursue opportunities in the retirement plan space with confidence.

Paul Lofties, Senior Vice President of Wealth Management at Ladenburg, said, “Our new Retirement Plan Consulting Platform will drive the business growth of financial advisors across the spectrum of engagement with the retirement plan space, from professionals who support just a few plans, to those who have built their practices with a focus on this area in particular, and have more complex needs. The platform builds out Ladenburg’s existing value-added solutions and services to help retirement plan-focused advisors retain assets, grow client relationships, and bring onboard new business. This new platform enables our advisors to help address the issue of retirement readiness for most workers across the country by supporting company retirement plans more extensively, even as other players in this space continue to pull away from this vital area of the financial advice industry.”

Ladenburg has selected Retirement Plan Advisory Group (RPAG) to furnish the platform’s technology elements and certain of its practice management and training modules, following an extensive search for a provider that demonstrated both in-depth understanding of the retirement plan space and a proven ability to meet the stringent demands of clients in the sector.

Vince Giovinazzo, founder and CEO of the Retirement Plan Advisory Group, said, “We are thrilled and honored to partner with Ladenburg Thalmann to bring RPAG’s leading practice management platform to their retirement-focused advisors. Ladenburg’s deep commitment to helping their affiliated advisors grow their retirement business is consistent with RPAG’s values, focus, and mission of growing retirement advisory practices with scale and efficiency. Ladenburg’s high quality advisors and management team are a perfect fit for RPAG, and we look forward to working together going forward.”

Doug Baxley, Vice President for Retirement and Fiduciary Services at Ladenburg and a key architect of the Retirement Plan Consulting Platform, said, “The platform we have rolled out today has been thoughtfully designed to satisfy our advisors’ business goals in the retirement plan space, both from a client and asset retention standpoint and for advisors who require sophisticated support to aggressively grow their businesses. With assets of approximately $7 trillion in defined contribution plans in the U.S., we believe retirement plan sponsors will continue seeking out the advice and resources offered by financial advisors. The technology solutions, consultative practice management resources, business coaching, and on-the-spot troubleshooting capabilities we are making available in conjunction with RPAG will further empower advisors across all of our IAB subsidiaries to effectively capitalize on opportunities in this space, whether they already support multiple plans or aspire to do so in the future.”

The Ladenburg Retirement Plan Consulting Platform, which was developed in close collaboration with advisor focus groups from across Ladenburg’s IAB firms, will be rolled out in phases, with all Ladenburg subsidiaries and their advisors expected to have access to the platform by the end of 2018.

About Ladenburg

Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc. (NYSE American: LTS, LTSL, LTS PrA, LTSF) 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.

About Retirement Plan Advisory Group

Retirement Plan Advisory Group (RPAG) is an exclusive alliance of independent retirement advisors inspired to create successful outcomes by protecting plan fiduciaries and engaging plan participants. RPAG’s premier practice management platform provides advisors with powerful systems and technology, compelling reports and custom investment solutions, all surrounded by world-class training and support. RPAG supports thousands of advisors across the U.S., serving 35,000 plan sponsors, more than $350 billion in assets under influence, and over 4 million plan participants. Core practice areas include investment due diligence and fund scoring, RFPs and fee benchmarkings, fiduciary compliance, employee education, financial wellness, exclusive investment solutions, intensive training, national branding, sales and marketing resources and business consulting. To learn more, visit www.rpag.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 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 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.

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Source: Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc.