LPL Financial has promoted Marc Cohen, an executive vice president and head of corporate strategy, to managing director of business strategy and innovation. The move follows news in October that Rich Steinmeier would leave his managing director and chief growth officer role to serve as CEO, replacing Dan Arnold, who was terminated for cause on Oct. 1.
In the new role, Cohen will join LPL’s management committee and continue to oversee corporate strategy. He’ll also be responsible for the firm’s business line and affiliation strategy for independent advisors, large enterprises and institutional channels. He also leads business services and the firm’s innovation lab.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to continue scaling our strategies and exploring the innovative ways that LPL can better serve our clients to help them embrace their own entrepreneurial opportunities,” Cohen said in a statement.
Cohen joined LPL in 2018 to build out the firm’s premium affiliation model, dubbed Strategic Wealth Services. LPL created the unit for advisors with over $200 million in AUM from wirehouses or regional full-service firms. The business gives these advisors a client service model meant to replicate the kind of support many got at full-service firms. That includes transition advice, assistance onboarding clients, securing real estate, installing technology and setting up compliance and marketing programs.
“Respected for his stewardship of independence in the advisor-mediated marketplace, Marc’s expertise elevates the experiences we bring to our clients in every stage of their business and strengthens LPL’s leadership in wealth management through differentiated solutions and innovative strategies,” Steinmeier said in a statement.
Last week, LPL entered into a settlement with Arnold, indicating he’ll retain about 48,000 stock options, with a total value of $12 million, after the firm fired him in early October for violating its respectful workplace policies. That’s at a price per share of $327.56 (the company’s stock price at the close of Dec. 6).
Arnold’s remaining 98,432 stock options will be forfeited, while his non-solicitation and non-competition provisions stand through Sept. 30 of next year. According to LPL, the value of Arnold’s retained stock options is about 15% of the “aggregate total value of the severance benefits and equity awards” he would have gotten if he’d been fired “without cause” or “for good reason.”