Bank Investment Consultant articles from July 2007

Bank Investment Consultant archives from July 2007

Rocket Science.
July 1, 2007... Several of the articles in this issue deal with new developments-or the need for new developments-in an industry that is in a state of flux. Everybody knows what's driving it: gazillions of baby boomers hitting retirement without...

New Client Pricing to Increase Loyalty.
July 1, 2007... Leading banks are mulling a new pricing model designed to reward wealthy clients who buy multiple products by discounting fees across the board, according to a May 30 Celent report. In it, senior analyst Jacob Jegher, predicts that 48 of the...

Kiddie Tax Opens Doors for Advisors.
July 1, 2007... The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has raised the applicable age of its "kiddie tax" to 24 years of age, effective next year, making it harder for the wealthy to gift assets to their offspring in lower tax brackets. Last year, the kiddie...

Oversight of Insurance Sales: Coming a Baby Step Closer.
July 1, 2007... Banks and providers of life insurance and fixed annuities are optimistic that seperate bills-soon to be put forth in the House and Senate-could finally create an optional federal insurance charter. A collective of banks and trade...

Rapid HSA Growth Lies Ahead, But More Education Is Needed.
July 1, 2007... The number of Americans using health savings accounts (HSAs) is poised to grow quickly, recent research suggests, but more work is needed to help people understand how the accounts and their accompanying insurance plans work. Mintel...

Wachovia's Bright Ideas: Already near the top of the heap, the bank is launching new initiatives to push its brokerages further ahead.(Company overview)
July 1, 2007... Wachovia Corp.-long a securities industry powerhouse-is becoming even more powerful. When the nation's fourth largest banking company announced in late May that it would acquire A.G. Edwards for almost $7 billion, industry insiders and...

Wachovia Doubles Up on Private Bankers.
July 1, 2007... On the heels of announcing its A.G. Edwards deal, Wachovia said on June 7 that it plans to more than double its private banking staff within three years. The banking company says it plans to add 300 private bankers to its roster of 240 by...

Golden Globe: How one advisor crossed continents to bring borderless financial advice to wealthy international clients.
July 1, 2007... Jules Mbogi, now a financial advisor at Raymond James's office at the United Nations Federal Credit Union, is an internationalist who followed his dream all the way from Moscow to Wall Street. During his journey, Mbogi found that wealthy...

The SMA Club: Many separately managed accounts are sold merely on their sizzle. But are they really worth the high fees and minimums?
July 1, 2007... Separately managed accounts (SMAs) aren't a big deal in the bank channel-yet. There, they make up only 8% of the total SMA pie. But that percentage should grow as baby boomers start rolling over their fairly substantial IRA and 401(k) funds....

Distribution Channels: Separately Managed Accounts.
July 1, 2007... % of total SMA distribution Distribution Method 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 Bank 8.24% 8.71% 7.48% 4.64% 3.60% Independent B/D 0.73% 0.57% 0.60% ...

The New, New Deal: Bank reps need strategic support now to keep growing their retirement income business.
July 1, 2007... Things have certainly changed as far as the investment habits of baby boomers are concerned. There was a time when clients focused mostly on the best investments to grow their assets, says Randy Spears, head of financial planning and regional...

Hedging Your Bets: Structured products, now available to retail investors, allow advisors to alter the risk/reward ratio according to clients' needs.
July 1, 2007... Structured products, once limited to high-net-worth investors due to their high minimums, have crept down the income scale in the past few months. Now these exotic investment products are within retail investors' reach for as little as $1,000....

The Chatty Banker: How to unleash your bankers' questioning skills.
July 1, 2007... Since bankers have been raised in a service culture rather than in a sales environment, they may be reluctant to raise the issue of investments. But advisors can help them see a referral not as a sales activity, but as offering the best in...

Breaking the Habit.
July 1, 2007... Recently, I had six bankers commit to asking everyone they sat down with over a two-day period one or all of the Magic Wand Questions and report the results to their investment partner. After some role play, the volunteers tried the techniques...

The Campaign State.
July 1, 2007... BIC: What unique opportunities are in your territory? Beck: I'm from Los Angeles; my move to this quiet little town was a quality of life issue. Many clients move here for the same reason and a good number of them are retirees. ...