The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.
(Questions from industry analysts are provided in full, but answers are omitted - download the transcript to see the full question-and-answer session)
Question: Michael Cyprys - Morgan Stanley - Analyst
: Hoping to kick off with a question for Wayne since you've joined the call here. Maybe you could talk -- hoping you could talk about
the growth that you've seen at Commonwealth over the years.
You've grown that to $285 billion of assets in a highly competitive industry. Can you talk about the steps that you've taken over the
years in managing the business and the steps you've taken to be recognized for the industry-leading service that was mentioned
on the call here?
Question: Dan Fannon - Jefferies - Analyst
: I was hoping you guys could help bridge the EBITDA of the $120 million as of the 12/31 level to the over $400 million you're expecting
post integration, how much of that is expense synergies versus revenue synergies, and then give a little bit more specifics around
the buckets to where you think you can leverage the most.
Question: Dan Fannon - Jefferies - Analyst
: And just to clarify, so a larger percentage of revenue synergies and expense synergies in those numbers.
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MARCH 31, 2025 / 12:00PM, LPLA.OQ - LPL Financial Holdings Inc To Acquire Commonwealth Financial
Network
Question: Dan Fannon - Jefferies - Analyst
: Got it. And then just a follow-up on the growth, 11% AUM CAGR for Commonwealth, but that obviously includes some beta. Can
you strip out the organic growth over the last several years of the business on a stand-alone basis?
Question: Bill Katz - TD Cowen - Analyst
: Congrats on the transaction. For Mr. Bloom, I'm curious. You mentioned a number of things that have powered your franchise over
the last several years, but you also mentioned the import of LPL Financials. So in particular, I was wondering if you could highlight
where you see the opportunity for incremental services.
And then for Rich, I'm curious. From your perspective, what do you see as some of the incremental best practices that might accelerate
growth for the legacy part of the business?
Question: Bill Katz - TD Cowen - Analyst
: Great. Maybe just a follow-up. Just maybe more of a financials question. I think everything is geared off of 12/31, so maybe a couple
of parts to this. One is, how do we think about the mix between equity and fixed income with the assets just given the market
Question: Steven Chubak - Wolfe Research - Analyst
: Congrats on the deal. Rich, I mean, you've been clear on your ambitions to increase your capture rate of breakaway wirehouse teams.
Just given Commonwealth's reputation for attracting and servicing some of these larger teams, just want to better understand how
the deal can strengthen your value prop with attracting more of those breakaway wirehouse advisors.
Question: Steven Chubak - Wolfe Research - Analyst
: Great. And Rich, you've touched on this a little bit already, but I was hoping you could maybe just drill down into how you're planning
to deploy some of Commonwealth's best-in-class servicing capabilities at scale across the border platform and how that might
translate into some better growth or financial outcomes for LPL.
Question: Devin Ryan - Citizens - Analyst
: Congratulations to all here. Really nice deal. First question, you hit on it. But if I look at this on an EBIT ROA basis, it implies, on the
run rate pro forma number, like a 14-basis-point EBIT ROA, which was roughly in line with what you all announced with the Atria
deal. And obviously, Commonwealth is 75% advisory. 25% was advisory to Atria.
So I know we don't have anything beyond 2026, but the 14 basis points as a headline, it feels maybe a little bit conservative. So it
would just be great to maybe just get a read on that. And then as we look beyond 2026, you hit on a couple, but just love to hear
about some of the bigger picture long-term synergies of these two platforms.
Question: Benjamin Budish - Barclays - Analyst
: I wanted to check on a few financial details. I guess, first, I apologize if you mentioned this before, but the expected adjusted EBITDA
by the end of 2026, is that predicated on current adjusted EBITDA run rate with synergies, but at the current level of AUM and not
assuming any incremental growth?
And then the other thing I wanted to check on, Matt, you mentioned that there's a plan to deleverage once Commonwealth is
onboarded. Curious how the timing of onboarding and integration costs impact the timing of deleveraging. And what does that
mean in terms of when do you get back to a point where you could be repurchasing shares?
Question: Mike Brown - Wells Fargo Securities, LLC - Analyst
: Most have been asked, but I just wanted to -- maybe a couple of ticky-tacky questions for you. Just wanted to hear a little bit about
the cash levels at Commonwealth. How should we think about that cash as a percentage of client assets? Where is that typically at
historically and is where it is currently a good level to consider as we think about modeling this out?
Question: Mike Brown - Wells Fargo Securities, LLC - Analyst
: Yeah. No dogs are allowed in the office here, so wasn't me. But thanks for clarifying, Rich.
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