Pros
LPL is a broker/dealer and therefore clears its own trades and can hold securities in street name.
Cons
I came from another brokerage firm and the difference couldn't be more dramatic. The call center is poorly trained and unresponsive. At times, I am told to "Google the answer", "read the compliance manual" or get passed onto another department. When I want professional, responsive service (and the correct answer), I will call my old brokerage firm, which treats me with more respect and kindness than LPL. The technology is terrible. There are so many flaws and nuances to the software that it makes it nearly impossible to train my assistant. Glitches and errors, which seem to be easy to fix, go un-addressed. Navigation through Branchnet (brokerage computer interface) is terrible. For example, I have been at LPL for years and still don't know how to look up trading activity. Here is a suggestion, all functions related to trading should be...uh...under trading, maybe? In opening account, it would be nice if all the dropdown boxes worked, the nomenclature was consistent, the background for required fields was the same, and when you saved the info, it would actually be saved. Forms. There are 1200 different forms at LPL. At my last broker/dealer, I saw maybe 8 or 9 but am guessing they had as many as 50 or 60. There are 18 forms for distributing or contributing money to an account. How about combining them into one? Another example, FINRA does not require a client to sign an application. So why do we have applications that get longer every year. A 7-page application. Really? I had one client that called the Home Office with a simple request and was told if he didn't like the way things were done at LPL, he could take his investments elsewhere. Clients have also complained about the statements and access to their accounts online. When I have made calls to tech support, compliance marketing, and compliance, a recording indicated my call would be returned in 24 hours and prompted me to leave a message. After 24 hours and no callback, I called again, only to receive the same message. This can go on for days. The compensation is not good. There are so many fees and charges the real payout is not good. The most meaningless report I get each month is the payout rate, which says 90%. You might as well tell me that I made $2million last year and forget to mention you took out $1,990,000 in fees. Lastly, the OSJ system is a joke and a racket. Coming from a firm where we took pride in helping others succeed, LPL has a culture of stick-it-to and profit off of the hard work of others. I have met more OSJs than I can count who make it a business to profit off of others and don't offer anything substantive in return. I would much rather pay the Home Office 10% than have to pay some local lazy guy who wants me to push junk investments to increase profits for him. At the heart of it all, I have left dozens of suggestions on little things that could make a big difference but they go un-addressed. Like the other postings, decisions are made my a management that is out of touch with what is important. The primary customer for LPL executives is not the employees or the advisors, it is the shareholders.