LPL Financial Names Joan Khoury Chief Marketing Officer

LPL Financial announced Monday that it has named Joan Khoury as managing director and chief marketing officer. The appointment is effective immediately; in an interview Monday,  Khoury said it was her first day, and that she will be based in LPL’s San Diego offices. She will report to LPL Financial’s Chief Financial Officer Robert Moore.

Khoury (left) previously held marketing positions at Merrill Lynch, where she was senior VP of strategic marketing for its brokerage force. She also global head of marketing at Wachovia's Evergreen Investments (now part of Wells Fargo Advantage Funds following Wells Fargo's acquisition of Wachovia) and managing director and group head of global marketing at Bank of New York Mellon.

In the interview, Khoury said her job will be “helping to shape the marketing agenda” for what she called a “very dynamic” firm, and that “embedded in that is the importance that we place on our advisors.” Khoury said her first task will be a listening tour in which she will gain the insights of both advisors and LPL’s home office professionals. She joined LPL, she said, seeing an “opportunity to join an entrepreneurial firm that has tremendous potential” and “to help it reach its full potential.”

Khoury said that “what’s unique about LPL is the uniqueness of the business models,” citing the company’s involvement with independent contractor reps,  RIAs and even its presence in  banks and credit unions. “What I find distinctive is that we’re singularly focused on advisors” at LPL,  and how “we deliver through different models” to serve a broader spectrum of investors.”

Investors should have access to independent advice,” she said, but there are “different ways to achieve that.

In a statement, LPL said Khoury will oversee “all marketing initiatives across the organization–including marketing and brand strategy, advertising, corporate identity, public relations, customer communications, and field marketing, and will also manage its market research and analysis, marketing regulatory review, and business development advertising functions.”