LPL Releases Enhanced Version of RFP Tool

SearchPro allows advisers to benchmark a current or prospective qualified retirement plan against a universe of more than 100 plan provider products.  Advisers can choose from a selection of more than 50 criteria based on sponsor’s specific needs in the areas of investment selection, customer service, and systems technology, among other factors.

The tool is being offered exclusively to advisers served by the company’s retirement plan-focused division, LPL Financial Retirement Partners.

LPL said SearchPro has been developed through a partnership between LPL Financial Retirement Partners and subsidiaries of Asset International, Inc., the parent company of PLANADVISER, and is a private-labeled version of Asset International’s Pathfinder 2.0 tool.

The SearchPro tool allows advisers to:

• Access LPL Financial proprietary investment research, covering thousands of fund managers and 20,000+ mutual funds, from anywhere with an Internet connection;
• Customize provider searches based on integrated scoring methodology developed by LPL Financial Retirement Partners in concert with Pathfinder 2.0’s best-match scoring and PLANSPONSOR’s provider satisfaction survey;
• Conduct due diligence for existing plan sponsor clients to benchmark detailed fee and services breakdowns (investment, compensation, and plan costs, including TPA costs) and plan offerings against other service providers
• Complete personalized RFP responses in connection with replacement searches, with the ability to incorporate multiple adviser profiles (when working independently or within a group).

Bill Chetney, executive vice president of LPL Financial Retirement Partners, said, “Plan sponsors today demand more independence and unbiased knowledge from their plan advisers, and the completely re-architected SearchPro platform underscores our commitment to meeting the provider search and benchmarking needs of our advisers, and to acting in the best interests of the organizations and plan participants they serve.”