Home of the Registered Investment Advisor
By Anne Field
Source: Registered Rep
When Jon Yankee and his two partners started their firm six years ago, they wanted to do it right. Among other things, that meant putting in place a clearly-thought-out compensation plan for both advisors and staff. For many advisory firms, the matter of getting their compensation right is especially critical now. That’s because it’s harder than ever to find new advisors.
By Michael Kitces
Source: Nerd’s Eye View blog
Once upon a time, the purpose of a client vault was to use it like a vault. It would store important client documents to be accessible if/when needed. But in recent years, the vault became not only the place we store the files we access rarely, but the ones we access regularly. Advisors increasingly made it the centerpiece of their efforts to securely share files and collaborate with clients. Yet in reality, this is quite impractical.
By Marc Zeitoun, CFA, Rydex/SGI
Source: AdvisorOne
The latest Rydex|SGI AdvisorBenchmaking report shows the many demands on advisors’ time and how they manage it as well as the mix of services they offer. The 2011 report revealed that advisors surveyed spend up to half their time on just three activities—portfolio management, client meetings and acquisition, and client service. The single biggest change seen in 2011 was a shift toward more time spent on portfolio management.
By Kristen French
Source: Registered Rep
Financial advisors at broker/dealers are increasingly taking the reins on their clients’ fee-based accounts, according to a report out from Cerulli Associates. That should continue to grow in the next few years, Cerulli says. Is taking full investment control, also known as “discretion,” a good strategy?
By Joel P. Bruckenstein
Source: Financial Advisor magazine
Many advisors are now interested in moving their IT resources to the cloud, and at least one IT expert believes such a move will soon become a necessity. “Legacy Windows applications are dying,” says David Kramer of External IT. If they don’t “SaaSify” (a Kramer term for moving to “software as a service” model) within five to ten years, they will be out of business.
By Diana Britton
Source: Registered Rep
In our second IBD Report Card, we examine the grades advisors gave their firms, and offer a look at one major trend that will shape the indie landscape in the next few years: consolidation. Analysts and executives predict the landscape is going to change dramatically in the next three years. FAs need to examine their career aspirations and prepare for a potentially turbulent future, analysts say.
By Charles Paikert
Source: Registered Rep
The hottest trend in wealth management this year will be business development. This is unfortunate, because a lot of wealth management firms are terrible at developing business. It will be tough this year to squeeze more revenue from existing assets, so firms are instead pinning their growth hopes on client acquisition.
By Mike Patton
Source: AdvisorOne
It’s portfolio review time once again. In this article, Patton shares his four-step process, which includes determining how often to conduct reviews, how to track them, what information is needed, and how to package the paperwork.
By Matt Oechsli
Source: Registered Rep
What do elite teams do to set themselves apart? The reality is that there is no one simple answer, the author notes. Every advisor’s practice is different and every advisor is at a different place with his career. Matt Oechsli (the author) provides eight fundamental truths that every advisor can follow to elevate their practice.
By Jeff Benjamin
Source: Investment News
When pressed, it seems financial intermediaries will tend to overstate their qualifications and services, according to Cerulli Associates Inc. “Most advisers don’t want to say that they don’t offer some kind of service, so they are more likely to overstate their capabilities,” said Scott Smith, a Cerulli analyst. Even though 59% of respondents identified themselves as financial planners, Cerulli calculated that only 30% actually fit the definition.
