Bank Investment Consultant articles from February 2006

Bank Investment Consultant archives from February 2006

Boom or Bust.
February 1, 2006... I received a couple of letters from readers following December's publication of our Top 50 list. My two correspondents were both essentially making the same point: How could we justify lauding advisers who rely heavily on annuity sales for...

Clearing Firms Upgrade Workstation Technology.
February 1, 2006... A rep's best friend today is surely his or her workstation, which provides access to customer information, the ability to enter orders, and the most direct means to answer customer questions. Those workstations come from a wide variety of...

Letters to the Editor.(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2006... I just read the December Bank Investment Consultant Top 50-are you kidding me? By my brief count, seven of them do over 80% of their revenues in annuities. Is it EVER appropriate to push 80% of your clients into one product? One guy even...

UMA Potential Went Untapped Last Year.
February 1, 2006... Hyped by some as the future of fee-based investment products, unified managed accounts (UMAs) have not lived up to expectations. "A lot of comments and positions on UMAs were very aspirational," says Dan McNamara, a managing director in...

First Tennessee Could See Writing on Fund-Unit Wall.
February 1, 2006... Shrinking assets under management and rising compliance costs has forced First Tennessee Bank to yield to the same realities that had pushed other midsize banks out of proprietary fund management in the past couple of years. "Smaller...

Product News.
February 1, 2006... EverBank has launched the MarketSafe Gold Bullion CD, a certificate of deposit available to investors through an adviser. In exchange for a minimum deposit of $1,500 for five years, customers are guaranteed 100% principal investment protection,...

Tools & Resources.
February 1, 2006... AIM Investments has published its Lifetime Income Planning Program, a business building plan designed to provide financial advisers with tools to help those clients expecting to retire in the next 10 years. The program covers various topics,...

Calendar.
February 1, 2006... Feb. 5-8 Annual Marketing Conference National Association for Variable Annuities Rancho Mirage, Calif. (703) 707-8830, or www.navanet.org Feb. 23-24 Asset Allocation Conference Ibbotson Associates ...

Learning Curve: How one rep who wasn't afraid to ask (and pay) for help has found it is boosting his production.
February 1, 2006... For Dennis Zanowski, vice president of wealth management services at Missouri State Bank and Trust, brokerage business can't grow in the dark. It needs to be open to the various elements that make up a good network of sustenance and growth. ...

Supercharging Brokerage: How TPMs are bringing big-bank investment services to the little guy.
February 1, 2006... For many smaller banks, entering the investment business is a significant challenge-it's expensive, complicated, fraught with regulatory risk and easy to fail at. However, the bank channel is so potentially lucrative that some broker-dealers...

Spotlight on TPMs.
February 1, 2006... Name No. of Clients Client Size No. of Dedicated Reps No. of Platform Reps CUSO Financial Services 100 credit unions $250m-$8b 275 50 Financial Network 300 banks and credit unions $100m-$1b 403 352 IFMG 30-40...

Catching Up with the Law: How TPMs are coping with the Merrill Lynch Exemption.
February 1, 2006... Banks look to third-party marketers (TPMs) to limit their own compliance liability, especially considering the potential fallout from the passage of the so-called Merrill Rule, officially known as the Merrill Lynch Exemption, which allows...

Letter Perfect: As exchange-traded funds proliferate, planners find that they're useful for alpha as well as beta.
February 1, 2006... Just a few years ago, newcomers to exchange-traded funds could be forgiven for thinking they had wandered into a zoo. Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with names like SPDRs and VIPERs were on display for investors, but few understood them. Today,...

A Booming Business.
February 1, 2006... All categories of exchange-traded funds posted impressive asset growth in 2005. The biggest category, U.S. equity ETFs, were up almost 16% to $213.8 billion in late November, from $184.4 billion at the end of 2004. ETF Type ...

Protecting the Ultra-Wealthy: The rich are creating a growing market for insurance of all kinds to avoid anything from kidnapping to sexual harassment.
February 1, 2006... Last year may well be remembered for its record number of storms and damage to people and property. There was Katrina, of course, but there were also Dennis, Emily, Rita and Wilma-all category four or five storms that raked the Gulf Coast in...

Measuring Return: Part 2.
February 1, 2006... This article describes various measures used to assess the return of a specific investment or portfolio. It is the ninth in a series of monthly columns presenting lessons from a certificate course offered by the Investment Management...

Keeping It in the Family: Part 2: How advisers can enhance revenues by serving both business owners and their heirs.
February 1, 2006... Last month, I discussed the problems facing all family businesses-how to provide for the future leadership of the business and at the same time, plan for the transfer of family wealth to future generations. Reluctance to plan for wealth...

Lone Star Stats: Bank brokerage in Texas reflects the latest trends impacting the industry, from fees to CFPs.
February 1, 2006... BIC talks shop with Texas reps Ellen Derrick, a Uvest investment rep and associate vice president at Extraco Banks' investment division; Fred Greene, senior vice president and portfolio manager at Woodforest National Bank's investment...