$LPL

South Korean suppliers, including Samsung (005930.KS) and LG (034220.KS), face profit challenges due to a strengthening won and Apple's (AAPL) entry into the foldable smartphone market with the iPhone Duo. Samsung Electro-Mechanics (006400.KS) raised MLCC prices amid AI-driven supply shortages. Samsung expanded its foldable lineup, while LG Display focuses on high-value OLEDs.

Vanguard agreed to acquire Altruist, a wealth tech platform, for completion in 2026. Constellation invested in Confluence ($7.6B AUM), Vistria in Curi Capital ($14B AUA), and FTV in Kingsview Partners ($10B AUM). Steward Partners refinanced its credit facility. LPL added two teams with $1.83B in AUM. These deals aim to expand market reach and capabilities.

LG Display will showcase its FLiPP OLED technology at IMID 2026, which reduces costs and defects, improves efficiency, and may be used in Apple products. Samsung Display unveils Wide View OLED for mobile devices and a 20-inch stretchable display at the same event.

LG Display reported a first-half 2026 operating profit of 39 billion won despite a 4.3% revenue decline to 11.15 trillion won. Cost reductions and a shift to higher-margin OLED products improved its cost-of-sales ratio to 86.3%. The company completed its exit from large-LCD business and plans further cost cuts.

LPL Financial said it is expanding its wealth management platform with new tools in investment management, alternatives, tax planning, banking and lending, highlighted at its Focus 2026 conference. The firm cited Model Wealth Portfolios growth to over $200 billion and plans to cut minimums to $1,000 in 2026. It reported HNW and UHNW assets above $300 billion on its platform.

LPL Financial opened its Focus 2026 conference in San Diego, saying it is investing nearly $2 billion over three years to modernize technology and launch LPL Latitude, a unified platform for data, workflows, cybersecurity and intelligence. It also debuted Cyan, an AI agent embedded in ClientWorks for planning and meeting materials. LPL said AI will not replace advisors. LPL manages about $2.6 trillion in assets.

LG Uplus said it bought Pago Networks to expand its managed detection and response security services, and plans to invest $945m in a 200MW AI datacentre near Seoul by Nov 2028, after a prior $431.5m phase. LG Uplus, KT and SK Telecom are founding partners in South Korea’s AIDC Alliance. Bharti Airtel reported Q1 revenue up 18% to 585.4bn rupees and EBITDA up ~10.9% in India. True Corp denied China Mobile plans to exit its 7.81% stake.

LG Display said it will invest about 1.5 trillion won (about €0.9bn) from South Korea’s National Growth Fund, doubling it with internal funds to total roughly 3 trillion won (€1.8bn). The money will support next-generation OLED technology and manufacturing infrastructure, focusing on tandem and LTPO OLED and higher-value, premium displays.

LPL Financial CEO Rich Steinmeier said LPL’s integration of Commonwealth Financial Network is progressing, with about 80% of Commonwealth assets retained and a 90% retention target. LPL plans more training for Commonwealth advisors and is rolling out AI tools including Cyan and the Latitude platform. LPL reported 32,475 employees and $2.56 trillion in client assets.

LPL Financial said it hired two advisor groups from Cetera in California and Texas, bringing about $340 million and $150 million in client assets, respectively. Raymond James added a multigenerational team from Stifel managing about $262 million. Merrill recruited two advisors from Morgan Stanley, with roughly $400 million and $220 million in assets.