Bank Investment Consultant articles from December 2005

Bank Investment Consultant archives from December 2005

Season's Greetings.
December 1, 2005... With the holiday season in full swing, bank investment consultants are presented with opportunities to join in the party spirit-but how far they should they go? For starters, clients aren't all cut from the same cloth. Most reps divide...

Rep Production Falters, but Banks Report Growth.
December 1, 2005... Individual advisers' average productivity was down in the first half of the year compared with the year before, a pattern that, given rising interest rates and a volatile stock market, seems unlikely to change in the near future. "The...

Retiring Boomers Face Reality Check.
December 1, 2005... After much talk about how baby boomers' approaching retirement will affect the financial and real-estate markets, the first wave of that generation turns 60 in January. But the financial burdens they will face will make affording a comfortable...

Product News.
December 1, 2005... ING has introduced the Secure family of three index annuities. Index Five carries a surrender charge period of five years. Index Seven carries a seven-year surrender charge period. Index Opportunities Plus features a 5% first-year premium...

Tools & Resources.
December 1, 2005... Bloomberg Press has released a revised version of Investing in Hedge Funds by Joe Nicholas. It explains hedge fund structure, the risks versus the benefits of these vehicles, how to evaluate individual funds and where to find specific...

Calendar.
December 1, 2005... Dec. 6 Roundtable: Professional Buyer and Manager Selection Cerulli Associates Boston (617) 437-1098, or www.cerulli.com Dec. 8-11 Financial Planning: Process and Environment American College Bryn Mawr,...

The 50 Most Valuable Players.
December 1, 2005... BIC is proud to present this year's list of top financial advisers working in the bank channel. While they are ranked from one to 50, it should be noted that these advisers represent the best performers in the country, much as the S&P 500...

Managed accounts in the Bank channel: In-depth Research On How Banks Package and Distribute Managed Accounts.
December 1, 2005... Separately managed accounts are a rapidly growing segment of the financial industry, encompassing an estimated $620 billion in assets under management as of mid-2005, according to the Money Management Institute of Washington, D.C., a nationwide...

How far is your platform from perfection?
December 1, 2005... More and more, clients are demanding a comprehensive investment platform, giving them the ability to access both your bank's asset management capabilities as well as external solutions. A recent study by 3C Financial Partners, entitled Platform...

Positioning: The Cultural Challenge for Banks.
December 1, 2005... Bank trust divisions have historically seen themselves as both investment managers and customer advisors. But in its survey report "The State of SMA Distribution Through Bank Trust Divisions," the Money Management Institute, of Washington,...

When Opportunity Knocks Banks Can Answer: Enhance organic growth and improve profitability by adding wealth management solutions to your bank investment program.
December 1, 2005... There are two pools of potential investors that could seriously influence the popularity of bank investment programs today. First, we are on the cusp of what will be the biggest wave of retirement in the history of the United States. On January...

The Competitive Landscape.
December 1, 2005... The Money Management Institute has identified bank trust divisions as one of the main distribution channels driving growth in separately managed accounts, or SMAs. Trust divisions have established relationships with high net worth customers,...

What Bankers Say About Investment Management: Following are some of the attitudes bankers express when asked about their role in investment management.
December 1, 2005... We're already experts in "separately managed accounts" and have been offering them for years. Banks have $1 trillion in trust assets compared to the SMA industry, which has $620 billion. Investment management occupies an important and...

The Infrastructure Puzzle: ...Supplement Rather Than Replace.
December 1, 2005... Bankers say infrastructure is the most significant obstacle they face in adopting a non-proprietary model for separately managed accounts. 60 % of those who responded to the Money Management Institute/Dover Financial Research survey cited...

Pricing: Banks' Biggest Challenge, or an Opportunity?
December 1, 2005... Declining fees and a growing demand for fee transparency are bringing significant changes to the pricing of separately managed accounts (SMAs), according to the Money Management Institute. In its 2005 report "The State of SMA Pricing...

Progress, but hurdles remain.
December 1, 2005... The separately managed accounts industry has made significant progress on a variety of fronts in recent years that has enabled it to expand quickly. But more changes are needed to drive further growth among banks. Nearly half (47 percent)...

All Or Nothing: Starion Financial's ultimatum is winning fans among its client base.(Company Profile)
December 1, 2005... In September 2003, a small bank in North Dakota undertook a quiet metamorphosis, emerging from its restructuring quite different from its local competitors. The result was that First Southwest Bank in Bismarck, N.D., became Starion Financial,...

Hedging Home Equity: How advisers may soon be able to help their clients lock in their real-estate gains.
December 1, 2005... By now talk of a housing bubble has become standard fodder for cocktail hour conversations, newspaper stories and political prognostications, with predictions running the gamut-from a quick leveling off of prices with no dramatic impact, to...

Evaluating Risk and Return.
December 1, 2005... This article, which discusses how investment consultants assess the risk and return associated with a specific investment or portfolio, is the seventh in a series of monthly columns presenting lessons from a certificate course offered by the...

Advertiser Index.
December 1, 2005... CFA Institute 25 Jackson National Life Insurance C4 800-777-7900 www.jnl.com John Hancock 27 LPL Financial Services C2, 1 800-298-9069 ...

Managing Money in Missouri: Investment advisers discuss product trends in the heart of the Midwest.
December 1, 2005... While it may have its share of casinos, Missouri's bank clients don't want to gamble with their retirement savings. How are investment advisers handling the state's aging demographic? Jerry Israel, a CUSO Financial Services rep and senior...