BlackRock’s iRetire® Retirement Investment Framework Now Available to LPL Financial Advisors

Jun 23, 2016

“End to End” Retirement Solution Helps Investors Close the Retirement Income Gap

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) announced today that its iRetire retirement investment framework is now available to LPL Financial advisors, offering a new way to help their clients close the retirement income gap. LPL is a leading retail investment advisory firm and the nation’s largest independent broker/dealer* supporting more than 14,000 advisors.

With iRetire, LPL advisors can help clients save and invest for lifetime retirement income by letting them see where they stand when it comes to the number that really matters, annual retirement income, and guiding decisions about how to get on track. The platform draws on CoRI®, BlackRock's innovative series of retirement income indexes, and the powerful risk analytics of Aladdin®, enabling advisors to grow their business with technology and insights that support strong client-focused relationships.

“We are excited to deliver iRetire to our advisors,” said Rob Pettman, LPL executive vice president, Investment and Planning Solutions. “We strive to provide our advisors with the resources and tools that enable them to serve their clients and their businesses in ways that are most meaningful to them. iRetire is a valuable platform that our advisors can take advantage of to help their clients be better prepared for a successful retirement.”

iRetire provides a suite of capabilities that enable advisors to initiate an income-focused discussion and then move clients to take action to help manage their income situation. The platform lets advisors show clients how much income their current savings could provide annually in retirement and how changes in behavior (e.g., working longer, saving more, changing their investment strategy) could help close the income gap. Advisors can also use iRetire insights to build various portfolio scenarios for clients to consider, based on their retirement income goals.

“We are pleased to help LPL advisors embrace what we believe is the future of wealth advisory – the combination of powerful financial insight coupled with innovative technology – to support investors as they strive to reach their retirement income goals,” said Frank Porcelli, Chairman of BlackRock’s US Wealth Advisory Business. “With iRetire, advisors can help grow their business by putting them and their clients on the same side of the table to have a sustained retirement planning discussion with investors.”

BlackRock launched iRetire in November 2015 as part of its commitment to help reframe the retirement planning problem and provide new solutions using BlackRock’s proprietary technology and support. Currently, the iRetire offering also is available to 18,000 advisors on the wealth management platform powered by Envestnet, Inc. (NYSE:ENV), a leading provider of unified wealth management technology and services to investment advisors.

About LPL Financial

LPL Financial, a wholly owned subsidiary of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA), is a leader in the retail financial advice market and served $482 billion in advisory and brokerage assets as of April 30, 2016. LPL is one of the fastest growing RIA custodians and is the nation's largest independent broker-dealer (based on total revenues, Financial Planning magazine June 1996-2016*). The Company provides proprietary technology, comprehensive clearing and compliance services, practice management programs and training, and independent research to more than 14,000 independent financial advisors and over 700 banks and credit unions, enabling them to help their clients turn life's aspirations into financial realities. Advisors associated with LPL also service an estimated 45,000 retirement plans with an estimated $121 billion in retirement plan assets, as of March 31, 2016. LPL also supports more than 4,200 financial advisors licensed and affiliated with insurance companies with customized clearing, advisory platforms, and technology solutions. LPL Financial and its affiliates have more than 3,400 employees with primary offices in Boston, Charlotte, and San Diego. For more information, please visit www.lpl.com.

About BlackRock

BlackRock is a global leader in investment management, risk management and advisory services for institutional and retail clients. At March 31, 2016, BlackRock’s AUM was $4.737 trillion. BlackRock helps clients around the world meet their goals and overcome challenges with a range of products that include separate accounts, mutual funds, iShares® (exchange-traded funds), and other pooled investment vehicles. BlackRock also offers risk management, advisory and enterprise investment system services to a broad base of institutional investors through BlackRock Solutions®. As of March 31, 2016, the firm had approximately 13,000 employees in more than 30 countries and a major presence in global markets, including North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and the Middle East and Africa. For additional information, please visit the Company’s website at www.blackrock.com | Twitter: @blackrock_news | Blog: www.blackrockblog.com | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/blackrock

IMPORTANT: The projections or other information generated by the iRetire tool (the “tool”) regarding the likelihood of various investment outcomes are hypothetical in nature, do not reflect actual investment results and are not guarantees of future results. Results may vary with each use and over time.

Any information contained in or generated by the tool should not be construed as or relied upon as investment advice, research or a recommendation by BlackRock Investments, LLC or any of its affiliates (collectively, “BlackRock”) regarding the use or suitability of any particular asset allocation, fund or overall investment strategy. The tool is designed to be used in consultation with your advisor and should not be relied on as a primary basis for an investment decision. Only you and your advisor know enough about your circumstances to make an informed investment decision.

The tool and BlackRock's CoRI methodology do not guarantee future income or protect against loss of principal. There can be no assurance that an investment strategy based on the tool or BlackRock's CoRI methodology will be successful.

BlackRock is not affiliated with LPL Financial or any of its affiliates.

© 2016 BlackRock, Inc. All rights reserved. BLACKROCK, iRETIRE and CoRI are registered trademarks of BlackRock, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and elsewhere. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.

GMC-0170