Bank Investment Consultant articles from June 2007

Bank Investment Consultant archives from June 2007

Minority Report.
June 1, 2007... Two of the stories in this issue discuss how advisors can best target minority groups, in this case, women and Hispanics. In both instances, whether they actually have minority status is arguable-there are more women than men, and in some...

Retirees Question Reps' Ability to Help.
June 1, 2007... The future cost of healthcare is the biggest worry for people in retirement. But many of them don't trust their advisors to help them plan for this or for retirement in general, according to a recent Fidelity Investments survey of 813 retirees...

Pension Act Could Boost 529 Sales.
June 1, 2007... College 529 plans are likely to become bigger business for advisors now that the Pension Protection Act has made their tax benefits permanent. Although 80% of 200 financial advisors sold some 529 plans in 2006, according to an MFS Investment...

Quashed Merrill Rule: Rethinking Fees?
June 1, 2007... Bank broker-dealers are still in the dark over what the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals' turnover of the Securities and Exchange Commission's broker-dealer exemption will mean to their efforts to grow fee business. The exemption, also known...

Hancock Banks on Variable Annuities.
June 1, 2007... John Hancock Financial Services' sales of variable annuity in the bank channel hit a record $1.3 billion in 2006, up from $1 billion in 2005-itself a record year for the firm. The 28% increase marks the third consecutive year the insurer has...

Rich Clients Seek a Broader Range of Products.
June 1, 2007... Banks must offer a full array of products, including hedge funds and international products, to compete for wealthy clients, according to a U.S. Trust survey. At the same time, the wealthiest 1% of Americans say they prefer banks for...

The Gold Standard: What best practices make some bank brokerage programs stand out from the competition?
June 1, 2007... During its eight-year tenure at Key Bank, broker-dealer McDonald Investments made some big mistakes. For one, "it wanted Key's bank reps to become wirehouse reps, so it moved them out of the branches and into offices," says Marc Vosen,...

Deeper Relationships Pay Off: Advisors' production is higher when they cover fewer households.
June 1, 2007... Annual Gross Commission Revenue Per Advisor Best Practices Banks $385,810 Other Banks $268,927 Industry Average $244,552 Bank Customer Households Per Advisor Best Practices Banks 11,196 Other Banks 19,924 ...

More Help, Fewer Problems: Best practice advisors have greater access to sales assistants; their sales are more compliant.
June 1, 2007... Advisor headcount divided by total of registered and unregistered sales assistants Best Practices Banks 3.6 Other Banks 7.4 Industry Average 7.0 Written complaints per 10,000 investment transactions Best Practices Banks...

Lean And Mean: Despite limited branch support and lower payouts, best practice advisors thrive.
June 1, 2007... Referrals per year per advisor Best Practices Banks 186 Other Banks 176 Industry Average 178 Percentage of brokerage commission revenue (including trailers) paid out to the advisor sales force Best Practices Banks 38 ...

Old Girls Network: How top producer Margi Legowik landed a coveted position serving women-and men-in a man's world.
June 1, 2007... In a male-dominated business,Margi Legowik stands out. Not just because she is a woman at the top of her game, but because she's been so successful working with female clients. Just four years into her tenure at Primevest's program at Columbia...

Cashing Out Of Your Home: Reverse mortgages are gaining ground as baby boomers hit retirement.
June 1, 2007... The reverse mortgage is an esoteric product that has existed on the margins of the home-lending market for years. But events are conspiring to push reverse mortgages into the mainstream. Wall Street now views the product as a potential industry...

Too Much of A Good Thing?: Overregulation may be discouraging bank reps from offering their clients the most suitable products.
June 1, 2007... Annuities have long been the stock-in-trade of bank offerings to clients, but these days, the product seems to have become something of a dirty word-at least certain kinds of annuities. At Bank of Rhode Island, for example, investment...

Bilingual Banking: In overlooking Hispanic prospects, financial advisors may be missing out on a viable market.
June 1, 2007... If a middle-aged Mexican immigrant who owned a two-truck landscaping company, walked into a bank looking for investment advice, some financial consultants might be surprised to learn that he was prepared to pour tens of thousands of dollars...

Changing Direction: Opportunities arise when clients transition from asset accumulation to distribution.
June 1, 2007... Patrick Jones and Tina Railin have developed a great friendship over the past 15 years, and they occasionally get together to play a round of golf and discuss Patrick's investments. Tina is one of the top producers at a bank-based investment...

Desert Heat.
June 1, 2007... BIC: What unique opportunities do you have in your territory? Hall: The credit union is moving into health savings accounts, so we can piggyback into high-deductible policies on the medical insurance side, which works for both individual...