LPL Financial Adds AI-Focused Director, Onboards $260M Advisor Team and Taps KraneShares Hedged Equity ETF
LPL Financial elected Somesh Khanna—former McKinsey senior advisor and Apexon co-chair—to its board as an independent director, adding over three decades of AI and digital transformation leadership. The firm also added KraneShares’ KSPY ETF to its no-transaction-fee platform for 22,000 advisors and welcomed two advisors managing $260 million in combined assets.
1. Somesh Khanna Elected to LPL Financial Board of Directors
LPL Financial announced that Somesh Khanna, senior advisor at McKinsey & Company and executive co-chair of Apexon, has been elected to its board of directors as an independent director. Khanna brings over 30 years of consulting and financial services experience, having co-led McKinsey’s global banking and securities practice and managed its New York office. He also serves on the boards of KeyCorp and Persado. LPL’s board chair, Jim Putnam, highlighted Khanna’s expertise in digital transformation, AI and data-driven strategy as key to supporting the firm’s growth, which includes servicing over 32,000 financial advisors and custodying approximately $2.3 trillion in client assets. Khanna holds degrees from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, IIM Calcutta and IIT New Delhi.
2. KraneShares U.S. Hedged Equity ETF Joins LPL's No-Transaction-Fee Platform
KraneShares’ Hedgeye Hedged Equity Index ETF (KSPY) has been added to LPL Financial’s No-Transaction-Fee platform, expanding access for more than 22,000 LPL advisors and their clients. KSPY uses Hedgeye’s Risk Range™ Signals—based on price, volume and volatility—to adjust portfolio delta between 0% and 100%, targeting downside hedging when the S&P 500 exceeds its sell range and full equity exposure near the buy range. Since 2015, the S&P 500 has closed within its published risk range 83% of trading days, underscoring the strategy’s systematic approach. This listing brings the total number of KraneShares ETFs on LPL’s NTF platform to 16, spanning themes from China and carbon markets to AI and electric vehicles.
3. Rand, Williams & Associates Joins LPL Financial Platform
Financial advisors Spencer W. Rand, CFP® and Michael J. Williams, CFP® of Rand, Williams & Associates, LLC have migrated approximately $260 million in advisory, brokerage and retirement plan assets to LPL Financial’s broker-dealer and RIA platform from Osaic. Based in Monterey, California, the firm serves educators, non-profits and high-net-worth families across multiple generations. With over 20 years of experience each, Rand and Williams cited LPL’s technology, streamlined processes and focus on advisor feedback as key reasons for the move. Their team also includes associate advisor Holly Hidaka. LPL supports over 32,000 advisors and offers a range of fintech tools and affiliation models to help practices scale efficiently.