EL SEGUNDO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--National Planning Holdings®, Inc. (NPH), the nation’s fourth-largest independent broker-dealer network1, today announced the launch of its new Technology Solutions Team, a group of dedicated experts who will support financial advisors with NPH affiliated firms nationwide in implementing and optimizing NPH’s comprehensive suite of client service and practice management technology platforms. NPH is the first broker-dealer network to offer a team dedicated to strategic technology use to help advisors across the family of broker-dealers grow their businesses. The Technology Solutions Team will assist advisors in leveraging both NPH’s proprietary and third-party technology offerings to service existing clients more effectively, drive greater operating efficiency, and identify and pursue new client opportunities, among other goals.
The Technology Solutions Team consists of 13 dedicated consultants, with specialists allocated to each of NPH’s seven regions nationwide and reporting to a national team leader. Specialists will provide both personal, in-office training and assistance in addition to telephone-based support. NPH has made access to this team available across its entire network of broker-dealers in order to help all of its advisors utilize existing technology solutions more effectively to grow their businesses and serve clients. The Technology Solutions Team showcased their capabilities during a nationwide tour in 26 cities. More than 1,000 individuals took part in the face-to-face training opportunities led by the specialists.
“We are very pleased to be the first broker-dealer network to offer comprehensive technology support to all of our broker-dealers and financial advisors nationwide via the Technology Solutions Team,” said Kirsten Bosch, vice president, NPH Advisor Experience Team. “As many leading technology companies have shown, the best results from technology investments come from not only providing innovative solutions and platforms, but from backing up those solutions with ongoing, end-to-end education and support. National Planning Holdings is putting technology industry best practices to work for our advisors and investing in tools to help them maximize their efficiency, grow their businesses and further elevate the experience they provide to clients.”
Key focus areas for the Technology Solutions Team will be helping NPH broker-dealers and advisors more effectively implement and utilize NPH’s Advisor Dashboard, develop more effective workflows and train new advisors and staff members. The team will also provide ongoing support on a wide array of technology issues on an as-needed basis.
“I have been fortunate to have access to the Technology Solutions Team as part of an early soft launch, and I have been very impressed with the results. While other companies make significant investments in their technology platforms, they do not always provide assistance to ensure that advisors get the most out of those investments,” said Michael Whitehouse, a registered representative of SII Investments, Inc., located in Green Bay, Wisconsin. “NPH’s Technology Solutions Team, in contrast, has taken a hands-on approach to helping me and my staff understand a broad range of new possibilities for my business that we can implement today, using NPH’s existing technology platform. This commitment to providing in-depth tutorial support and ongoing trouble-shooting is another great example of NPH’s ability to provide advisors with the right tools and resources to expand our businesses and help our clients.”
By leveraging Technology Solutions Team members’ expertise, NPH believes that advisors will be better able to serve clients through more detailed and customized asset reviews, in-depth visibility into client holdings and the ability to sort by an array of customizable filters. The team will also enable advisors to more closely monitor their practices’ goals, follow key business indicators and trends, and identify additional opportunities.
Bosch said, “NPH is driven by the needs of our advisors in everything we do. Our Technology Solutions Team will position our advisors for even greater growth by helping them envision and achieve the full spectrum of opportunities that are at their fingertips through platforms like our Advisor Dashboard and other leading-edge technology offerings. We look forward to helping our advisors and their clients work toward their long-term goals for the future.”
NPH’s network of four leading independent broker-dealers — INVEST Financial Corporation (INVEST), Investment Centers of America, Inc. (ICA), National Planning Corporation (NPC) and SII Investments, Inc. (SII) – serve nearly 3,500 advisors across the country with a comprehensive spectrum of services and support.
For more information about the four independent broker-dealers in the NPH network, please visit: www.INVESTFinancial.com/public/joininvest/direct.html, www.joinica.com, www.joinnpc.com and www.joinsii.com.
About National Planning Holdings, Inc.
National Planning Holdings, Inc. (NPH) is a broker-dealer holding company and an affiliate of Lansing, Mich.-based Jackson National Life Insurance Company® (Jackson®). NPH serves as the holding company for the independent broker-dealers INVEST Financial Corporation, Investment Centers of America, National Planning Corporation and SII Investments, Inc. Collectively, the NPH broker-dealer network currently has 3,428 registered representatives (as of December 31, 2015). NPH and Jackson are wholly owned by Prudential plc (NYSE: PUK), a company incorporated in England and Wales. Prudential plc is not affiliated in any manner with Prudential Financial, Inc., a company whose principal place of business is in the United States of America.
This press release may contain certain statements that constitute “forward-looking statements.” Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements which are other than statements of historical facts. However, as with any projection or forecast, forward-looking statements are inherently susceptible to a number of risks and uncertainties and actual results and events could differ materially from those currently being anticipated as reflected in such forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that management’s expectations, beliefs or projections will result or be achieved or accomplished. Any forward-looking statements reflect NPH’s views and assumptions as of the date of this press release and NPH disclaims any obligation to update forward-looking information.
1Southwood, D. and Zhu, E. (2015). How the Biggest Independent Broker-Dealer Networks Stack Up: Ranking Five Big IBD Networks by Reps and Revenue. InvestmentNews. May 2015.
