Bank Investment Consultant articles from December 2004

Bank Investment Consultant archives from December 2004

The Cult of Personality.
December 1, 2004... Retail investment programs-comparatively young by securities industry standards-are in a state of flux today at banks across the country. In fact, banks are taking advantage of the relative youth of their programs to institute changes that...

Pershing Account Statements Win for Clarity.
December 1, 2004... Pershing, the Bank of New York-owned clearing firm, took top honors in a recent Dalbar ranking of customer account statements that examined ease of understanding, primary content (such as value of customer holdings and who to contact for help),...

More Women Seek Retirement Plans.
December 1, 2004... American women are sending the message that they need help planning for retirement yet don't know how to go about it, according to a recent Prudential Financial study examining women's financial literacy. The company surveyed 1,134 women...

SEC Leaves Bank-Broker Regulation Hanging Again.
December 1, 2004... The Securities and Exchange Commission has again delayed its decision on a controversial regulation that would define banks as broker-dealers, putting them under its watch. The decision has been pushed back to March 31, pending additional...

Calendar.
December 1, 2004... January 20-21 Asset Allocation Conference Ibbotson Associates Orlando, Fla. (800) 758-3557, or www.ibbotson.com February 6-8 Network 2005 Managed Funds Assoc. Key Biscayne, Fla. (202) 367-1140, or...

Product News.
December 1, 2004... AssetMark and Fiserv have launched the iFlex 401(k) Plan for advisors. It features six target allocation funds as well as a choice of up to 14 additional third-party funds from a list of over 2,000 on the AssetMark plan list. (800) 664-5345, or...

Tools and Resources.
December 1, 2004... 401khelpcenter.com has updated its free Directory of Solo 401(k) Retirement Plan Providers. It contains information to contact and obtain specific details on each provider so the self-employed person can shop and compare vendors. (503)...

Making It Big in a Small Bank: Choosing to work in a picturesque country town doesn't have to dent production potential, says Bank of Hiawassee rep Bob Anderson.
December 1, 2004... If you think you have to work out of a metropolitan megabank to make a name for yourself in the industry, you may be barking up the wrong tree, says Bob Anderson, a branch manager for Raymond James Financial Services working out of the Bank of...

Bob Anderson At a Glance.
December 1, 2004... 2003 AUM: $70m 2004 AUM: $82m 2003 Production: $600k 2004 Production: $700k Number of clients: 850 Licenses: 7, 24, 63, 65, Life/Health (including Variable) Bank size: $250 million Copyright 2004 Thomson Media...

25 Top Reps: Banks Name Their Top Brokers for 2004.
December 1, 2004... Each December, Bank Investment Consultant gives investment program managers the opportunity to recognize their top-performing reps before an audience of their peers-BIC's readers. The industry is evolving quickly, which is reflected in this...

At National City, reps are judged on a whole lot more than their production.
December 1, 2004... If there's one thing National City Bank reps and managers talk a lot about, it's the corporate culture of the firm. The gist? The customers come first, whatever their needs are. In short, there's no "I" in "team," says Betty Moon, senior vice...

Getting Heard.
December 1, 2004... In any large organization, communication between managers and staff can be disjointed at best. To get around this problem, National City's Betty Moon went straight to the source-investment reps working in the field-to find out firsthand how...

A Time for Giving: Charitable contributions ease clients' tax bills while allowing them a philanthropic gesture this festive season.
December 1, 2004... As the end of the year draws near, clients begin scrambling for ways to minimize the tax bite as much as possible. But it's also the time of year when many who are charitably inclined decide how to dole out what they can to their favorite...

Banks Must Up Wealth Management: To compete with the wirehouses, investment program managers may have to rethink the way they run their reps, consultant William Ottinger says.
December 1, 2004... Banks have to change their act if they're going to build wealth management programs to rival the wirehouses, says William Ottinger, president of Ottinger Sales Resources, a sales training and consulting firm located in Chicago. "There's a...

Ottinger's Five-Point Guide to a Successful Wealth Management Program.
December 1, 2004... 1. Re-examine current sales and marketing strategies. 2. Understand that you need to sell to clients objectively-they're not interested in products. In the wake of five recent events-torrid market conditions, Sept. 11, the war in Iraq,...

Advertiser Index.
December 1, 2004... Alps Mutual Funds 40-41 Alps Mutual Fund Services INSERT Bank Insurance & Securities Association 11 CFP Board of Standards 23 Classified & Tech Tools ...

In a New York State of Mind: A look at investment business from the Big Apple to Niagara Falls.
December 1, 2004... This month, BIC speaks to Robert Bronk, a registered rep at NBT Bank Financial Services, clearing through LPL; Suzann Koehler, program manager for CFS Group, the brokerage subsidiary of Elmira, N.Y.-based Chemung Canal Trust Co., which clears...