Bank Investment Consultant articles from February 2008

Bank Investment Consultant archives from February 2008

Friendship First.
February 1, 2008... When I tell people at a social event what I write about for a living, their typical response is to ask for the next hot stock tip. My response is that if I knew that, I wouldn't be a financial journalist-I'd be sipping cocktails on a beach in...

Making the Most of Tiny Budgets.
February 1, 2008... Despite minuscule budgets, program managers at best-practice bank brokerages are still hitting all the bases when it comes to client outreach-from paying branch staff for referrals to advertising in the local media-even though those program...

HSAs Start to Gain Ground.
February 1, 2008... While health savings accounts (HSAs) got off to a bad start due to poor product design and virtually nonexistent marketing, a new report from Celent projects growth as high as 60% this year and predicts that growth rate will be consistent for...

Where Community Banks Are Losing Out.
February 1, 2008... Community banks' brokerage performance remained stable last year, but they continue to lag the larger banks in apples-to-apples measures of success, according to Michael White-LPL Financial Institution Services Community Bank Investment...

Slight Returns: Income at community bank brokerage increases - but remains dwarfed by larger banks.
February 1, 2008... Performance Measures All Banks All Banks Banks Banks $500M Banks $300M Banks $100M Banks >$4B <$4B $1B to $4B to $1B to $500M to $300M <$100M Investment Program Income YTD $5,378,369,000...

JNL Sets Its Sights on the Bank Channel.
February 1, 2008... Executives at Jackson National Life say that growing annuity sales via banks provided impetus for expanding its Prudential unit's wholesale force-and there's room for further growth. "The momentum in the bank channel shows that it's made a...

Making Divorce Work: Advisors dealing with divorcees may take custody of substantial new retirement accounts, but like divorce itself, specializing in this niche is no bed of roses.
February 1, 2008... If "money in motion" just means retiring baby boomers to you, you could be missing a potentially lucrative niche: divorce financial planning. Tapping that market is complex and time consuming, but with 1.4 million divorces each year, there is a...

Man With a Plan: There is nothing accidental about Jason Smith's meteoric rise in the banking world.
February 1, 2008... At only age 33, Jason Smith owns the kind of business most advisors covet. A financial advisor for U.S. Bank's investment division in Bellevue, Wash., Smith works with the private bank's high-net-worth clients, managing more than $150 million...

The Neglected Asset: Planners frequently overlook clients' life insurance policies, but these assets can be sold like any other.
February 1, 2008... A financial advisor WOULDN'T forget the value of a client's IRA. But when they review a plan, they do overlook or undervalue life insurance policies. In fact, insurance policies are so neglected that 6% lapse each year, according to the...

Schedule Your Success: Use this simple tool to create predictable and consistent production opportunities.
February 1, 2008... Jim's call was familiar: "I had just come off a great month, only to realize I didn't have anything going forward," he said. "To add insult to this injury, my boss barely acknowledged that I was No. 1 in our office. He said, 'Hey Jim, good...

The Yellow Brick Road.
February 1, 2008... BIC: What are the new opportunities in your territory? Kay: We have a lot of people moving in. Most folks need guidance about building retirement portfolios and saving for their children's education. McCauley: Paola is becoming a...