Lead-generation provider SmartAsset is now a part of LPL Financial’s Vendor Affinity Program, according to an announcement from SmartAsset. With its addition to the curated network of third-party vendors, SmartAsset joins SmartVestor and WiserAdvisor in offering its lead-generation services to LPL-affiliated advisors at a discounted rate.
Now that LPL Financial has added SmartAsset to its affinity program, LPL-affiliated advisors will be able to use the service "en masse," according to Dave Frisone, chief revenue officer at SmartAsset. SmartAsset matches investors with “fiduciary financial advisors” and advisors can filter potential clients based on preferences like asset levels and geography. SmartAsset’s Live Connections, a “warm phone transfer” with a nearly 20% conversion rate, according to the firm, is included in the partnership. The service was formally launched last year after a 2019 pilot and contributed to the $10 billion in closed investable assets that flowed from clients to advisors through the SmartAsset platform in 2020, according to the announcement. About 10% of total referrals go through Live Connections, said Frisone.
SmartAsset has seen rapid growth in the past two years and is on track to have $20 billion in closed investable assets by the end of the year. As of April, a total of $35 billion in assets had been referred through the company since launch, with $15 billion of that coming last year and in 2019. The firm has set a goal of referring $100 billion in new assets to advisors by 2024.
“We reach more than 100 million consumers each month [and] our audience size and unparalleled scale allows us to generate billions of dollars in new AUM for our partners every year,” said Michael Carvin, founder and CEO of SmartAsset, in a statement.
LPL-affiliated advisors use the Vendor Affinity Program to help navigate third-party services and vendors, and SmartAsset will be competing within the program against SmartVestor and WiserAdvisor, firms which each have their own requirements for advisor participation. WiserAdvisor requires its advisors to have at least five years’ advising experience before they can work with the marketer, and SmartVestor is a service provided by Ramsey Solutions that connections investors with “investing professionals.”
“SmartAsset gives [advisors] a new way to connect with investors across the country digitally, while also freeing up time to spend with their existing clientele,” said Rob Pettman, LPL Financial EVP of wealth management solutions, in a statement. “As the need for digital marketing solutions increases, we recognize the value that a tool like SmartAsset can be to advisors looking to grow their practices.”
SmartAsset is the 74th vendor to be admitted to the LPL Financial Vendor Affinity Program, which was launched six years ago.