Bank Investment Consultant articles from February 2003

Bank Investment Consultant archives from February 2003

Letters.
February 1, 2003... Doing the Right Thing It was refreshing to read your last article on the Top 50 Bank Reps (December BIM). For once readers had a chance to focus on financial advisers who were not rewarded purely on their volume of business, but rather on...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
February 1, 2003... Due to a production glitch, the December issue of Bank Investment Marketing, which profiled the magazine's top 10 teams and top 30 individual reps, contained a number of typographical errors that had been corrected in early versions....

Your Voice Counts.
February 1, 2003... BIC encourages letters to the editor on topics relevant to the magazine or industry. Please keep letters brief and topical. Correspondence may be edited for length or clarity; if requested, name and company affiliation can be withheld from...

Fifth Third Limits Life Businesses, Sells P&C Unit to Hub International.
February 1, 2003... Is the year 2002 expired, so did Fifth Third's patience with selling P&C insurance. The business had been accumulated almost by accident through acquisitions of other banks, unlike BB&T, for example, which has been buying agencies. And although...

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE.
February 1, 2003... FleetBoston Financial hired Jane-Marie Baker as svp and regional director for the Florida and New Orleans operations of its Quick & Reilly brokerage subsidiary. She joins Fleet from Charles Schwab, where she also ran operations in Florida....

LTC Insurance Premiums Rise, But So Do Bank-Channel Sales.
February 1, 2003... Before most financial advisers could ever close a sale of long-term- care insurance over the past few years, they often had to overcome a frustrating lack of awareness on the part of the buyer. But late last year, LTCI got entirely too much...

ODDS & ENDS.
February 1, 2003... Manulife USA ranked No. 1 and "best overall" in a study of variable annuity sales literature for financial advisers. Marketing Matrix International, an independent research firm in California, conducted personal interviews with financial...

Merrill Lynch Launches 'Beyond Banking' Push: BONY Buys Pershing; RJFS Completes Legg Mason Deal.
February 1, 2003... Be afraid. Be very afraid: Merrill Lynch wants all of your business ot just private clients, investments and insurance, but deposits and lending, too. It is starting with its top clients, but the real threat to bank programs is that once it...

BISA Membership Now Includes Learning eStore: Other entrants include Federated, Fidelity and Nationwide.
February 1, 2003... The Bank Insurance & Securities Association is launching the BISA Learning eStore, a new online learning center for members of the newly named association for financial professionals. The initial offering in the eStore is the Boston University...

Product Profile: Regions Is Bullish on New Fund.
February 1, 2003... Despite the third consecutive down year for the equity indices, Regions Bank's brokerage unit, Morgan Keegan, launched a core-equity mutual fund in late 2002. The move is not quite as brave as it might sound at first because bank-owned mutual...

Karen Davis, BB&T Investment Services, Raleigh, N.C.: Karen Davis gave up her job as a successful regional manager to follow her passion: one-on-one client counseling. She has had no regrets.
February 1, 2003... Ken Davis knew what she wanted to do when she was only 12 years old. "I remember going to the bank with my mother and being in awe of everything that was going on," she recalls. Watching desk-bound bank employees counseling customers made a...

REP DATA.
February 1, 2003... AUM: $86.51 million Production: $895,000 (commission) Clients: 2,056 Licenses held: 7, 24, 63, 66, insurance Copyright 2003 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved.

The Gensler Group, Northrop-Grumman FCU, Gardena, Calif.: A former bank rep creates a select group of reps to provide full-service investment and insurance programs to CUs and small banks. It's working.
February 1, 2003... Every young bank rep thinks about how he would do things differently if he were running the program. In a few cases, that rep flourishes and does end up managing a team or a whole investment or insurance subsidiary. In this case, Dan Gensler is...

Program Data.
February 1, 2003... AUM: $150 billion Series 7 reps: 9 Series 6 reps: None Independent Contractors: 5 Copyright 2003 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved.

If You Build It, They Will Come: The VBA Creates its Own BD.
February 1, 2003... Is launching a member-owned BD in a foundering economy the right move? This isn't just a pipe dreamfor the Virginia Bankers Association: 28 banks havesigned up and the VBA expects to generate $15 million in revenue and $500 million in sales by...

Shelley B. Thompson Comes Home To Lead City National's Wealth Management Group.
February 1, 2003... After punching her ticket at some of the biggest banks, Thompson is leading a broad program at one of the West Coast's fastest-growing private banks. So far, it's been a warm homecoming. The only thing sweeter than moving home to take a...

Brokerage Data.
February 1, 2003... AUM: $15 billion Q3 Income: $40 million No. of accounts: 250,000 Copyright 2003 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Forget 2002 Taxes, Weigh Your 2003 Strategies Now: The first quarter is viewed as the end of the tax season that begins in fall, but it really begins in January. For the next year, that is. The clock is ticking, but start now for 2004.
February 1, 2003... A 15-month year might sound like some dodgy accounting trick but it is actually a sophisticated way to approach wealth management and tax planning. In many cases dead leaves piling up in the fall are the trigger for advisers to start thinking...

Pershing, Intuit Offer Tax Program to Advisers.
February 1, 2003... Pershing struck a deal with Intuit to provide comprehensive tax-planning and support services to Pershing's customers and their clients. Starting late last year, Pershing began delivering TaxCenter, Intuit's interactive personal-financial...

From Greed to Fear: Why Advisers Rule Now: What do clients crave now? Goal-oriented advice that helps them meet their objectives promptly. It comes down to knowing what they would want to have-and what they must have. It's very different.
February 1, 2003... It has been a rarity for many advisers: catering to the post-exuberance investor, who ran with the bulls from the mid-1990s through 2000, before being brought to his knees by low equity valuations and declining principal. "Investors have...

For New Or Revived Programs, Outside Help Is Often Essential: The costs and complications of a new bank brokerage program doing business with an outside broker-dealer are obvious. But the costs and complications of staying in house may be even greater.
February 1, 2003... Not only are there still banks in this country that do not offer brokerage, but they are a majority. But that will change over the rest of this decade, according to recent survey by Cerulli Associates of Boston. "By the end of 2003 banks with...

Has Recession's Star, The REIT, Had Its Day?: Until recently, the only source of big dividends without high risk was REITs o more. And if Bush's tax plan passes, they may become a mistake.
February 1, 2003... For the long term-10 years or more-historical data point to REITs as a necessary part of an investor's portfolio. But for those forecasting an economic rebound in the near-term and a corresponding bounce in the stock market, their money may...

Total Returns.
February 1, 2003... Year Dow Jones Nasdaq REITs 1999 25.22 85.90 -6.48 2000 -6.18 -39.29 25.89 2001 -7.09 -21.05 15.50 2002 -16.76 -31.53 5.22 Source: Nareit Copyright 2003...

Banks and Underwriters Extol Proprietaries' Virtues: BB&T's new double-barreled proprietary FA-VA, along with several new entries from other institutions, signals the acceleration of a growing trend. The surge appears to be benefiting both reps and banks.
February 1, 2003... In response to requests from its investment advisers, BB&T launched a pair of new proprietary annuities, one fixed and one variable, in conjunction with Nationwide Financial, based in Columbus, Ohio. Other top underwriters are also heavily...

Focus of Bank-Channel Push For Phoenix Is HNW Clients: The rejuvenated insurer seeks key partner banks with wealthy clientele, and criticizes other carriers' overly broad approach with financial institutions. The firm has a long way to go to close the gap with rivals, though.
February 1, 2003... Underwriters have a checkered opinion of the bank channel, which is a reflection of their checkered history of success in financial-institution distribution. For example, of the top dozen largest players in the high-profile long-term-care...

Maybe Banks Aren't Technophobes After All: Bank reps and their customers appear to have greater interest in wireless and other technology services than their wirehouse brethren. Are they more technologically adept, more cutting edge or simply more ambitious?
February 1, 2003... Delivering financial services over wireless devices always seemed more in sync with the free-wheeling, full-service brokerage community and its more trade-oriented clientele. Anecdotal evidence suggests, however, that bank investment divisions...

Playing it Smart: Insurance is often a top priority among investors.
February 1, 2003... In today's marketplace, insurance is very important to most investors, and therefore, should be a crucial component of your sales strategy. By offering the right insurance vehicles, you are better able to fit each client's individual needs, and...

Fidelity Investments Correspondent Clearing Services.
February 1, 2003... By J. Peter Benzie, Executive Vice President, Correspondent Broker-Dealer Division Annuities: A key component of your sales strategy, but traditionally a time-consuming and paper-intensive process for Broker-Dealers and their customers....

The Institute of Business & Finance.
February 1, 2003... Gordon K. Williamson, executive director One of the very best products we have ever seen come out of the insurance industry is variable annuities with living benefits. Variable annuities have been around for over half a century, but living...

Jackson National Life Insurance Company.
February 1, 2003... Now representatives can present their variable annuity clients with another option-a professionally managed investment portfolio. For clients that prefer ongoing professional oversight of their investments, Jackson National Life(r), (JNL(r))...

LPL Financial Services.
February 1, 2003... LPL's insurance strategies meet the needs of financial advisers at all levels of expertise. From advisers who are implementing insurance modules of a comprehensive financial plan for the very first time to those who have a well-developed...

The Phoenix companies, Inc.
February 1, 2003... The Phoenix Companies, Inc. is a leading wealth management company, helping individuals and families, business owners, senior corporate executives, and institutions accumulate, preserve, and transfer their wealth with an innovative portfolio of...

Raymond James Financial Services, Inc.(r).
February 1, 2003... Dick Saunders, First Vice President of Business Development Raymond James Financial Services provides in-depth support to our Financial Advisors to assist them in building their insurance business. Our staff of over 50 Raymond James...

SWS Financial Services, Inc.
February 1, 2003... Bob Gioia, President, SWS Financial Services, Inc. Today's busy business and professional people long for "one-stop shopping" when it comes to their financial affairs. The independent financial advisors at SWS Financial Services strive to...

5 Steps to Mastering The Perfect Client Profile: Reeling in clients takes more than just a superb sales pitch. It takes a bit of psychology, too, such as the ability to gauge their value system. To capture clients, reps have to help them to live their lives on purpose.
February 1, 2003... Every rep knows that the first client interview is crucial. It should follow the 5-55 principle: In a one-hour meeting, you're talking for a total of five minutes-and your prospect has the floor for the remaining 55. Almost everything said is a...