Who is LPL Financial?

When you invest with us here at West Invest, you see the name ‘LPL Financial’ a lot, it’s on your account statements, your online account portal, and on much of the paperwork we complete with you. You may have wondered who LPL Financial is and what role they play in your finances. Let’s talk about it.

LPL Financial is our custodian. A custodian is a company that advisors affiliate with to transact investments on behalf of clients. The custodian actually holds your assets, not West Invest. We offer investment advice and financial planning about those assets, but LPL holds your funds and processes your trades (per our instruction or yours). This is a good thing for you, for several reasons:

• Custodians offer a wide range of investment options, such as stocks, mutual funds, ETFs and annuities.

• The custodian processes investment transactions, acting as the back office for all your investments and making sure trades stay secure.

• They enforce SEC rules and supervise financial advisors, adding a layer of protection for you.

• They provide technology systems for you and your financial advisor to access and manage your investment accounts.

• They provide regular account statements and trade confirmations, and also important tax forms.

West Invest has been utilizing LPL as our custodian for 20+ years. Every once in a while we re-evaluate which custodian offers the best services for you, and so far we’ve always stayed with LPL! LPL is publicly traded, has multiple offices in Boston, San Diego, North Carolina and more working on everything from compliance to trading to technology. LPL is the largest custodian in the United States and most of the financial advisors who work with LPL own their own businesses.

Basically, your advisor helps you create a plan, build your portfolio, and make financial decisions. But the custodian quietly handles the important work of holding, safeguarding, and reporting on your assets.