As president and chief operating officer of LPL Financial, Esther Stearns provides strategic direction and oversight to Business Technology Services, Broker/Dealer Support Services, Custom Clearing Services, and many Corporate Shared Service areas, including corporate marketing, product management, acquisition integration, registered investment advisor (RIA) services, strategic development, and human capital.

Ms. Stearns joined the company in 1996 as chief information officer. In this position, she led the build out of an advanced technology platform to help financial advisors manage and streamline their daily business processing. She was promoted to COO in 2005 and to president in 2007. Ms. Stearns was instrumental in building and packaging the Custom Clearing Services offering to provide back-end support services to broker/dealer organizations.

Prior to joining LPL Financial, Ms. Stearns worked at Charles Schwab for 14 years in a variety of leadership roles that include information technology, operations, managing surveillance, internal control, and credit.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Chicago and is Series 7, 24, 27, and 63 registered.