LPL Financial (LPLA) 10-Q2022 Q1 Quarterly report

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

We post the following filings to our website at lpl.com as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed with or furnished to the SEC: our annual reports on Form 10-K, our proxy statements, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, our current reports on Form 8-K and any amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act. Copies of all such filings are available free of charge by request via email (investor.relations@lpl.com), telephone ((617) 897-4574) or mail (LPL Financial Investor Relations at 75 State Street, 22nd Floor, Boston, MA 02109). The information contained or incorporated on our website is not a part of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.

We may use our website as a means of disclosing material information and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation Fair Disclosure promulgated by the SEC. These disclosures are included on our website in the “Investor Relations” or “Press Releases” sections. Accordingly, investors should monitor these portions of our website in addition to following the Company’s press releases, SEC filings, public conference calls and webcasts.

LPL serves the advisor-mediated advice marketplace as the nation’s largest independent broker-dealer, a leading investment advisory firm, and a top custodian. We support over 20,000 financial advisors, including advisors at approximately 800 institution-based investment programs and at approximately 500 registered investment advisor (“RIA”) firms nationwide, providing the front-, middle- and back-office support our clients need to serve the large and growing market for comprehensive financial advice from an advisor. We offer a customizable platform of integrated technology, brokerage and advisory platforms, digital capabilities, clearing and compliance services, business services, planning and advice services and strategic growth resources to help our clients run their perfect practices.

We are steadfast in our commitment to the advisor-centered model and the belief that Americans deserve access to personalized guidance from a financial advisor. We believe advisors should have the freedom to manage their client relationships because they know their clients best. We believe investors achieve better outcomes when working with a financial advisor. We strive to make it easy for advisors to do what is best for their clients by promoting freedom and choice through access to a wide range of diligently evaluated non-proprietary products while protecting advisors and clients.

We believe that we are the only company that offers the unique combination of an integrated technology platform, comprehensive self-clearing services, and access to a wide range of curated non-proprietary products, all delivered in an environment unencumbered by conflicts from product manufacturing, underwriting and market-making.

Under our self-clearing platform, we custody the majority of client assets invested in these financial products, for which we provide statements, transaction processing and ongoing account management. In return for these services, mutual funds, insurance companies, banks and other financial product sponsors pay us fees based on asset levels or number of accounts managed. We also earn interest from margin loans made to our advisors’ clients. A portion of our revenue is not asset-based or correlated with the equity financial markets.

We regularly review various aspects of our operations and service offerings, including our policies, procedures and platforms, in response to marketplace developments. We seek to continuously improve and enhance aspects of our operations and service offerings in order to position our advisors for long-term growth and to align with competitive and regulatory developments. For example, we regularly review the structure and fees of our products and services, including related disclosures, in the context of the changing regulatory environment and competitive landscape for advisory and brokerage accounts.

(†)    Totals may not foot due to rounding.

(†)    Totals may not foot due to rounding.

(†)    Totals may not foot due to rounding.

(†)    Totals may not foot due to rounding.

The financial services industry is subject to extensive regulation by U.S. federal, state, and international government agencies as well as various self-regulatory organizations. We seek to participate in the development of significant rules and regulations that govern our industry. We have been investing in our compliance functions to monitor our adherence to the numerous legal and regulatory requirements applicable to our business. Compliance with all applicable laws and regulations involves a significant investment in time and resources. Any new laws or regulations applicable to our business, any changes to existing laws or regulations, or any changes to the interpretations or enforcement of those laws or regulations may affect our operations and/or financial condition.

As a regulated entity, we are subject to regulatory oversight and inquiries related to, among other items, our compliance and supervisory systems and procedures and other controls, as well as our disclosures, supervision and reporting. We review these items in the ordinary course of business in our effort to adhere to legal and regulatory requirements applicable to our operations. Nevertheless, additional regulation and enhanced regulatory enforcement has resulted, and may result in the future, in additional operational and compliance costs, as well as increased costs in the form of penalties and fines, investigatory and settlement costs, customer restitution and remediation related to regulatory matters. In the ordinary course of business, we periodically identify or become aware of purported inadequacies, deficiencies and other issues. It is our policy to evaluate these matters for potential legal or regulatory violations and other potential compliance issues. It is also our policy to self-report known violations and issues as required by applicable law and regulation. When deemed probable that matters may result in financial losses, we accrue for those losses based on an estimate of possible fines, customer restitution and losses related to the repurchase of sold securities and other losses, as applicable. Certain regulatory and other legal claims and losses may be covered through our wholly-owned captive insurance subsidiary, which is chartered with the insurance commissioner in the state of Tennessee.

Assessing the probability of a loss occurring and the timing and amount of any loss related to a regulatory matter or legal proceeding, whether or not covered by our captive insurance subsidiary, is inherently difficult and requires judgments based on a variety of factors and assumptions. There are particular uncertainties and complexities involved when assessing the adequacy of loss reserves for potential liabilities that are self-insured by our captive insurance subsidiary, which depends in part on historical claims experience, including the actual timing and costs of resolving matters that begin in one policy period and are resolved in a subsequent period.

Our accruals, including those established through our captive insurance subsidiary at March 31, 2022, include estimated costs for significant regulatory matters or legal proceedings, generally relating to the adequacy of our compliance and supervisory systems and procedures and other controls, for which we believe losses are both probable and reasonably estimable.

Our business is directly and indirectly sensitive to several macroeconomic factors and the state of the United States financial markets. According to the most recent estimate from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, the U.S. economy contracted at an annualized pace of 1.4% in the first quarter of 2022 after growing at an annualized pace of 6.9% in the fourth quarter of 2021. Although the economy contracted in the first quarter of 2022 due to the impact of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, job gains remained intact: the U.S. economy added 1.7 million jobs in the first three months of 2022, and the unemployment rate fell to 3.6% at the end of the first quarter, signaling a tight labor market. The equity markets experienced intense volatility from a hawkish Federal Reserve (“Fed”) and from the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The S&P 500 and the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index declined 4.6% and 6.0%, respectively, for the first quarter.

Advisory revenue represents fees charged to advisors’ clients’ advisory accounts on our corporate RIA advisory platform and is based on a percentage of the market value of the eligible assets in the clients’ advisory accounts. We provide ongoing investment advice and act as a custodian, providing brokerage and execution services on transactions, and perform administrative services for these accounts. Advisory fees are primarily billed to clients in advance, on a quarterly basis, and are recognized as revenue ratably during the quarter. The performance obligation for advisory fees is considered a series of distinct services that are substantially the same and are satisfied daily. As the value of the eligible assets in an advisory account is susceptible to changes due to customer activity, this revenue includes variable consideration and is constrained until the date that the fees are determinable. The majority of our client accounts are on a calendar quarter and are billed using values as of the last business day of the preceding quarter. The value of the eligible assets in an advisory account on the billing date is adjusted for estimates of contributions and withdrawals to determine the amount billed, and accordingly, the revenue earned in the following three-month period. Advisory revenue collected on our corporate advisory platform is proposed by the advisor and agreed to by the client and averaged 1% on an annualized basis of the underlying assets for the three months ended March 31, 2022.

We also support separate investment advisor firms (“Independent RIAs”) through our Independent RIA advisory platform, which allows advisors to engage us for technology, clearing and custody services, as well as access the capabilities of our investment platforms. The assets held under an Independent RIA’s investment advisory accounts custodied with LPL Financial are included in total advisory assets and net new advisory assets. The advisory revenue generated by an Independent RIA is not included in our advisory revenue. We charge separate fees to Independent RIAs for technology, clearing, administrative, oversight and custody services, which may vary and are included in our service and fee revenue in our condensed consolidated statements of income.

Net new advisory assets are generated throughout the quarter, therefore, the full impact of net new advisory assets to advisory revenue is not realized in the same period. The following table summarizes activity impacting advisory assets for the periods presented (in billions):

The growth in advisory revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2022 compared to 2021 was due to increases in net new advisory assets resulting from recruiting efforts and advisor productivity.

Client cash revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2022 decreased compared to 2021, primarily due to lower average insured cash account balances, partially offset by the impact of an increase to the federal funds effective rate in March of 2022. For the three months ended March 31, 2022, our average insured cash account balances decreased to $30.2 billion, compared to $37.8 billion in 2021.

We earn interest income primarily from client margin loans and advisor loans. Period-over-period variances correspond to changes in the average balances of margin loans, as well as changes in interest rates. Interest income for the three months ended March 31, 2022 increased compared to 2021, primarily due to an increase in interest earned on advisor and margin loans.

Other revenue primarily includes unrealized gains and losses on assets held by us in our advisor non-qualified deferred compensation plan and model research portfolios, and other miscellaneous revenue, which is not generated from contracts with customers.

Advisory and commission expense consists of the following: payout amounts that are earned by and paid out to advisors and institutions based on advisory and commission revenue earned on each client’s account, production- based bonuses earned by advisors and institutions based on the levels of advisory and commission revenue they produce, the recognition of share-based compensation expense from equity awards granted to advisors and financial institutions based on the fair value of the awards at grant date and the deferred advisory and commission fee expense associated with mark-to-market gains or losses on the non-qualified deferred compensation plan offered to our advisors.

The following table sets forth our payout rate, which is a statistical or operating measure:

Our payout rate for the three months ended March 31, 2022 increased compared to 2021, primarily due to the impact of onboarding large financial institutions during 2021.

Occupancy and equipment expense includes the costs of leasing and maintaining our office spaces, software licensing and maintenance costs and maintenance expense on computer hardware and other equipment. Occupancy and equipment expense for the three months ended March 31, 2022 increased by $7.5 million compared to 2021, primarily due to increases in expenses related to software licenses and our technology portfolio.

Professional services expense includes costs paid to outside firms for assistance with legal, accounting, technology, regulatory and general corporate matters, as well as non-capitalized costs related to service and technology enhancements. Professional services expense for the three months ended March 31, 2022 increased by $3.4 million compared to 2021, primarily due to increases in non-capitalized costs related to the use of consultants.

Communications and data processing expense consists primarily of the cost of voice and data telecommunication lines supporting our business, including connectivity to data centers, exchanges and markets, as well as customer statement processing and postage costs. Communications and data processing expense for the three months ended March 31, 2022 increased by $3.1 million compared to 2021, primarily due to increases in costs associated with client statement production due to growth in our advisor count, which led to an increase in the customer base.

On March 15, 2021, we issued senior unsecured notes due in 2029 and redeemed our existing senior unsecured notes due in 2025. In connection with these transactions, we incurred a $24.4 million loss on extinguishment of debt for the three months ended March 31, 2021.

Other expense includes the costs of the investigation, settlement and resolution of regulatory matters (including customer restitution and remediation), licensing fees, insurance, broker-dealer regulatory fees, travel-related expenses and other miscellaneous expenses. Other expense depends in part on the size and timing of resolving regulatory matters and the availability of self-insurance coverage, which depends in part on the amount and timing of resolving historical claims. Other expense for the for the three months ended March 31, 2022 increased by $12.5 million compared to 2021, primarily due to costs related to Waddell & Reed transitional support and an increase in licensing fees.

We have established liquidity and capital policies intended to support the execution of strategic initiatives, while meeting regulatory capital requirements and maintaining ongoing and sufficient liquidity. We believe liquidity is of critical importance to the Company and, in particular, to LPL Financial, our broker-dealer subsidiary. The objective of our policies is to ensure that we can meet our strategic, operational and regulatory liquidity and capital requirements under both normal operating conditions and under periods of stress in the financial markets.

Our liquidity needs are primarily driven by capital requirements at LPL Financial, interest due on our corporate debt and other capital returns to shareholders. Our liquidity needs at LPL Financial are driven primarily by the level and volatility of our client activity. Management maintains a set of liquidity sources and monitors certain business trends and market metrics closely in an effort to ensure we have sufficient liquidity. We believe that based on current levels of cash flows from operations and anticipated growth, together with available external liquidity sources, we have adequate liquidity to satisfy our working capital needs, the payment of all of our obligations and the funding of anticipated capital expenditures for the foreseeable future.

LPL Financial relies primarily on client payables to fund margin lending. LPL Financial maintains additional liquidity through external lines of credit totaling $500.0 million at March 31, 2022. LPL Financial also maintains a line of credit with the Parent.

The following table presents amounts outstanding and available under our external lines of credit at March 31, 2022 (in millions):

The Company seeks to manage capital levels in support of its business strategy of generating and effectively deploying capital for the benefit of our shareholders.

Our primary requirement for working capital relates to funds we loan to our advisors’ clients for trading conducted on margin and funds we are required to maintain for regulatory capital and reserves based on the requirements of our regulators and clearing organizations, which also consider client balances and trading activities. We have several sources of funds that enable us to meet increases in working capital requirements that relate to increases in client margin activities and balances. These sources include cash and equivalents on hand, cash segregated under federal or other regulations, the committed revolving credit facility of LPL Financial and proceeds from repledging or selling client securities in margin accounts. When an advisor’s client purchases securities on margin or uses securities as collateral to borrow from us on margin, we are permitted, pursuant to the applicable securities industry regulations, to repledge, loan or sell securities, up to 140% of the client’s margin loan balance, that collateralize those margin accounts.

Our other working capital needs are primarily related to loans we are making to advisors and timing associated with receivables and payables, which we have satisfied in the past from internally generated cash flows.

We may sometimes be required to fund timing differences arising from the delayed receipt of client funds associated with the settlement of client transactions in securities markets. These timing differences are funded either with internally generated cash flows or, if needed, with funds drawn on our uncommitted lines of credit at LPL Financial or one of our revolving credit facilities.

LPL Financial is subject to the SEC’s Uniform Net Capital Rule, which requires the maintenance of minimum net capital. LPL Financial computes net capital requirements under the alternative method, which requires firms to maintain minimum net capital equal to the greater of $250,000 or 2% of aggregate debit balances arising from client transactions. At March 31, 2022, LPL Financial had net capital of $156.5 million with a minimum net capital requirement of $15.3 million.

LPL Financial’s ability to pay dividends greater than 10% of its excess net capital during any 35-day rolling period requires approval from FINRA. In addition, payment of dividends is restricted if LPL Financial’s net capital would be less than 5% of aggregate customer debit balances.

LPL Financial also acts as an introducing broker for commodities and futures. Accordingly, its trading activities are subject to the NFA financial requirements and it is required to maintain net capital that is in excess of or equal to the greatest of NFA’s minimum financial requirements. The NFA was designated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as LPL Financial’s primary regulator for such activities. Currently, the highest NFA requirement is the minimum net capital calculated and required pursuant to the SEC’s Uniform Net Capital Rule.

Our subsidiary PTC is also subject to various regulatory capital requirements. Failure to meet the respective minimum capital requirements can result in certain mandatory and discretionary actions by regulators that, if undertaken, could have substantial monetary and non-monetary impacts on PTC’s operations.

Our Credit Agreement and the Indentures allow us to pay dividends and distributions or repurchase our capital stock only when certain conditions are met. In addition, our revolving credit facility requires us to be in compliance with certain financial covenants as of the last day of each fiscal quarter. The financial covenants require the calculation of Credit Agreement EBITDA, as defined in, and calculated by management in accordance with, the Credit Agreement. The Credit Agreement defines Credit Agreement EBITDA as “Consolidated EBITDA,” which is Consolidated Net Income (as defined in the Credit Agreement) plus interest expense on borrowings, provision for income taxes, depreciation and amortization, and amortization of other intangibles, and is further adjusted to exclude certain non-cash charges and other adjustments (including unusual or non-recurring charges) and gains, and to include future expected cost savings, operating expense reductions or other synergies from certain transactions.