Takeaways from LPL FOCUS Conference 2026 – San Diego
HighPoint Advisors, LLC always strives to do more and do better for our clients. That’s why we take the time to get away and attend a few conferences each year. The biggest and boldest every year is LPL’s annual FOCUS conference. This is an event in which many thousands of LPL advisors from all across the country, home office staff, and industry partners in every corner of the financial world gather to take over a city and celebrate our profession. This 3-day event took place in San Diego again this year and did not disappoint. There is so much to learn at such a big event, so our advisors, AJ and Pat, had to be laser focused to make sure they came away with the most meaningful insights that will make our firm even better than ever.
Here’s a recap of the event and some of the key takeaways.
Day 1
The opening session of LPL FOCUS 2026 included stories, history, and plenty of things to look forward to in the near future. After a patriotic welcome to our group, one of LPL Financial’s senior executives piqued our interest by speaking about some initiatives happening behind the scenes at LPL. Some useful info was shared to help guide attendees through this year’s conference, and entertainment was provided to keep the mood. And then they opened the doors to the Expo.
Thousands of advisors rushed into the expansive Expo, where so many financial companies, home office departments, and food & drink vendors were set up as far as the eye could see. AJ and Pat were on a mission: fuel themselves with some food & drink as they bounced around the Expo to see various vendors (imagine the two of them in a pinball machine!). Maintaining relationships with our top partners is very important to our firm, and both AJ and Pat made sure to stop by and pick the brains of our friends from the investment companies, tech partners, and other vendors that HighPoint Advisors, LLC relies on to serve its clients each day. Plus, check out the robot drawn picture of Scuba Pat!
Day 2
AJ and Pat had a packed agenda for the 2nd day of the LPL FOCUS conference. It began with comments from an impressive general session full of LPL executives in charge of various business units. Those executives outlined a ton of initiatives – many of which were not previously shared! Safer email, a mobile advisor app, improved texting, better householding capabilities, easier account opening procedures, and reduced account minimums are some examples. Of particular importance is LPL’s proprietary AI, called Cyan, which will be integrated throughout LPL’s entire ecosystem. Much more to come on that in the near future.
Other individual events that AJ and Pat attended together included:
- An in-depth compliance and security update session.
- A presentation from a unique new prospective marketing vendor.
- An enlightening Q&A Town Hall session with LPL’s CEO Rich Steinmeier.
- A fascinating educational session about how AI amplifies human intelligence, with a focus on data security and real-world use cases.
- A reception in the evening with friends and partners from Private Advisor Group.
In addition, AJ and Pat each had some specific areas to seek out on their own during the conference.
AJ attended a breakout session on building an elite team, which is crucial to serving our clients on an ongoing basis. Blending our people with a great service model is the key to utilizing the vast human experiences of our advisors with constantly evolving technology. Then he sought out a peer advisor panel discussion that centered on why execution matters. It was an insightful comparison of ideas around specialization, client conversation, marketing, and working with beneficiaries.
Pat’s breakout session, presented by Equitable, focused on how to be there for clients when they need it most (and when they don’t even know they need it). This session was a reminder, in many cases, about how we tend to be a quarterback for handling all things financial. It spoke to why we maintain a network of professionals (tax, estate, & insurance, for example) that can support client needs and goals. It was pointed out that as clients age, they may wish to bring family members or beneficiaries into the planning conversations to create seamless transitions across generations. This step is important to our advisors, as these transitions must be accomplished with tax efficiency as well as careful attention to any special needs of the family prior to inheritance.
Day 3
The final day of LPL FOCUS 2026 kicked off with another memorable general session. Rich Steinmeier, CEO of LPL, addressed the crowd on a number of timely topics, then passed it to our chief marketing officer. LPL will be sponsoring the PGA golf events this year and will also continue to feature Anna Kendrick in various advertising commercials. Don’t be surprised if you see LPL in more places going forward! To close out the main stage session was a high-energy keynote presentation from Jesse Cole (and his signature yellow tuxedo). For those that don’t know him, Jesse created Banana Ball, and owns the famous Savannah Bananas team. His story reinforced the importance of being obsessed with clients and always doing what’s possible to provide great experiences and outcomes for those clients. That’s how a great business is built.
After the general session, AJ and Pat attended a few more events together, including:
- A deep dive into some important areas of estate planning.
- Another peer advisor panel, this time focusing on all things AI. There were a ton of takeaways about how and why to use AI in different circumstances, and the current constraints that users should be mindful of. Interesting!
- AJ and Pat also stopped by some of HighPoint Advisors, LLC’s tech vendors in the Expo to check-in on their plans for AI and other features coming in the near future.
- A reception hosted by investment partner firms Security Benefit and American Century, at which they got to catch-up with our firm’s wholesalers and other members of management.
Just like the previous day, this third day provided a chance for AJ and Pat to each cover some separate ground.
AJ always attends an educational session about recent tax law changes and other tax planning concepts. This year’s breakout was sponsored by Prudential and covered interesting planning ideas related to Roth IRAs, 529 Plans, and the newly created Trump accounts. Another interesting breakout worth noting was a session that explored the great wealth transfer that will see trillions of dollars moving from older generations to younger generations in the coming years. This is one of the biggest themes in our industry, and something HighPoint Advisors, LLC is always preparing for.
The session that Pat attended, presented by MFS Investment Management, reminds us that we are more than just number crunchers. We are here to listen and learn from our clients’ experiences and stories. Through this listening, we pick up “breadcrumbs” of information to better understand where our clients are coming from and where they are headed (both personally and professionally). What makes them nervous, what makes them celebrate, etc. These pieces of information all important as we grow our long-term relationship and building towards client goals.
Lastly, the final night’s concert was a heavily attended hit. After the sun set over the water, Carrie Underwood performed at the Rady Shell at Jacobs Park. It’s a unique venue, and one to definitely check it out in-person when in San Diego.
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