Decked out as Elvis, LPL Financial’s Steinmeier is in the building

LPL Financial Holdings Inc.’s new CEO, Rich Steinmeier, dressed as nonother than the King of rock’n’roll Elvis Presley, was in the giant brokerage’s San Diego campus on Friday, celebrating Halloween with an assortment of employees donning costumes of M&M’s, superheroes and zombies, according to pictures posted on LinkedIn. 

It may have been a statement of sorts, with Steinmeier taking the throne at LPL, a leading wealth management brokerage and registered investment advisor, at the start of October. That was after the company’s board fired its former CEO, Dan Arnold, for cause.

Specific details about what led to the board’s termination of Arnold, CEO, have yet to come to light.

Or perhaps Steinmeier squeezing into an Elvis outfit from the King’s mid-70s, late Vegas period – snug, white jumpsuit, bedazzled with fake rhinestones, mirrored shades and jet black wig - was just a bit of fun on the Friday before Halloween for the newly anointed chief executive and co-workers.

It was the first such celebration of Halloween at LPL since the Covid-19 pandemic, a company spokesperson said.

Steinmeier is scheduled to make one of his first public appearances as CEO this Wednesday to discuss LPL Financial Holdings third quarter earnings with analysts and investors after the market closes.

The audience for Steinmeier, who was a managing director and chief growth officer before being tapped to fill Arnold’s shoes, also includes the more than 23,000 financial advisors who work across the various brokerage and RIA platforms the firm offers.

Will the new CEO of LPL leave investors clamoring for more, as Elvis did with his fans?

One analyst, Steven Chubak, managing director of Wolfe Research, and a fan of LPL Financial Holdings’ shares, thinks so.

Looking ahead, LPL Financial Holdings, with the ticker symbol LPLA, “is our preferred long” position among his group of retail brokerage firms, “given favorable industrywide sweep cash dynamics and inflecting retail engagement,” Chubak wrote in a research note this week. “With LPLA shares still meaningfully lagging peers since sweep cash concerns first emerged [during the summer] we believe positioning is more balanced and are comfortable being long into results” this week.

LPL’s management committee last Friday wore rock star costumes to celebrate Halloween. It’s a longtime tradition at LPL to have such a party for the spooky holiday, the company spokesperson said.

Chief financial officer Matt Audette was the Man in Black, Johnny Cash.

“This year, Matt Audete, myself and the rest of the leadership team went all out channeling our inner rock stars,” Steinmeier wrote on a post in LinkedIn. “It really was a freaky Friday here at LPL. Thanks to all my colleagues for playing along.”

“Days like this are a great reminder that the power of community is not only productive but also a lot of fun,” Steinmeier added.