LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Page 4 of 10

Matthew Audette: Yes. I think, Bill, our perspective on fixed rates really to get into that target range we have of 50% to 75%. And I think the — if you cut out while I was commenting, I think the comment on the market is it continues to improve, right? It’s not perfect, right? We can’t move exactly where we want. But I think if you look at the trends throughout 2022 and as we look ahead into what we’re seeing already in Q1, demand continues to improve. So, I think we feel good about the maturities that we knew fixed rate agreements. You can see what we did in Q4 that we’re targeting to go out in the five and even, in some cases, a six-year zone based on what the market will bear. And then when you look at the demand overall, in addition to those maturities, I think we feel like we’ve got the opportunity to grow it in some amount from there.

so, the headline is the marketplace is strong. And I think with where the curve is, we still think it makes sense to target getting into that range if the market will allow us to do so.

William Katz: Terrific. And then just going back to expenses, again, I apologize my connection just cut out. Of the variability to this sort of more refined 12% to 15% and sort of bringing forward that growth, should we be interpreting that, as we look out into ’24, all else being equal, that the absolute level of this growth rate would decelerate? Or might you be in the same kind of situation where you would have the opportunity here to sort of advance your organic growth? And is it really now a point of trade-off between organic growth and margin as you think about the business?

Matthew Audette: Yes. I mean I think when you get to our long-term cost strategy, Bill, where that fourth principle is really adjusting our cost to the market, right, so I think, as you may expect, we’ll make judgments about 2024 as we get closer to that year. But I would emphasize from an optionality standpoint, when you look at that third category of 4% to 5%, that is opportunistic. The market, especially for 2023 with the interest rate benefits that we have, allow us to make those investments. And you can look at our op margins with the tailwind of interest rates or op margins continuing to be quite strong, we’re in a good place to do that. If the market does not allow us to do that, we’ve got the ability to adjust. So, I think I would definitely take away that we’ve got the flexibility. And when you start to look beyond 2023, we’ll make those judgments as we get closer to that time period.

Operator: And our next question comes from the line of Devin Ryan from JMP Securities. Your question please.

Devin Ryan: Hi, thanks. Dan, Matt. I guess first question, as we think about the opportunity to move upstream with larger advisers and higher net worth over time here, what are the capabilities that you need to add to be able to do that? Do you have everything you need and just kind of investing and improving? Or are there other types of capabilities that are maybe incorporated in some of that expense growth that are coming that could really help accelerate that push?

Page 4 of 10