MiB: Rich Steinmeier LPL CEO on The Future of Financial Advice

This week, I speak with Rich Steinmeier, Chief Executive Officer of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: LPLA), the largest independent broker-dealer in the country, with 32,000 advisors and $2.6 trillion in brokerage and advisory assets. He earned a BS in economics from Wharton and an MBA from Stanford, and began his career as… Read More The post MiB: Rich Steinmeier LPL CEO on The Future of Financial Advice appeared first on The Big Picture.

Nov 1, 2026

MiB: Rich Steinmeier LPL CEO on The Future of Financial Advice

This week, I speak with Rich Steinmeier, Chief Executive Officer of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: LPLA), the largest independent broker-dealer in the country, with 32,000 advisors and $2.6 trillion in brokerage and advisory assets.

He earned a BS in economics from Wharton and an MBA from Stanford, and began his career as a consultant at McKinsey. In 2006, he joined Merrill Lynch to bring the brand to the mass-affluent market, running the Financial Advisory Center through the financial crisis; that call-center business became Merrill Edge after Bank of America acquired the firm. He moved to UBS, where, as chief digital officer, he built out the firm’s digital and robo-advice strategy. He joined LPL in 2018, running business development, and was named CEO in October 2024. Earlier this year, LPL closed its $2.7 billion acquisition of Commonwealth Financial Network.

We discuss how running a call center through 2008 taught him to lead under stress: name the risks, explain how you are mitigating each one, and be as transparent as possible even when the news is bad.

A list of his favorite books is here; A transcript of our conversation is available here Tuesday.

You can stream and download our full conversation, including any podcast extras, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and Bloomberg. All of our earlier podcasts on your favorite pod hosts can be found here.

Be sure to check out our Masters in Business next week with Ann Berry, founder and Managing Partner of Threadneedle, an operating and capital advisory platform providing strategic guidance, operating support, and capital to high-growth private companies and investment platforms. She is also General Partner of the Threadneedle Opportunity Fund, investing in data analytics, AI, and web3 companies at the seed stage alongside Alexis Ohanian’s venture firm, 776. Berry also hosts After Earnings, Morning Brew’s interview podcast with public-company CEOs/CFOs.