Bank Investment Consultant articles from March 2008

Bank Investment Consultant archives from March 2008

Ties That Bind.
March 1, 2008... If there's a unifying theme to most of our stories this month, it's the need for brokerage to come in from the cold and take its rightful place among banks' traditional business units. It's increasingly clear that banks need brokerage...

A Poll Shows What Keeps Advisors Happy.
March 1, 2008... Although the number of advisors who are considering leaving their investment firms almost doubled to 9%, from 5%, in 2006 and 2005, the vast majority of advisors are still happy where they are, according to a National Financial survey. ...

SunTrust Pushes CRPC Designation.
March 1, 2008... SunTrust has struck a deal with the College for Financial Planning to offer its advisors a rate cut on the CFP's chartered retirement planning counselor (CRPC) program. So far, 109 of SunTrust's 550 advisors have enrolled in the course,...

Banks Are Missing 401(k) Rollover Business.
March 1, 2008... With trillions of dollars at stake, investment firms have muscled their way into the retirement market over the past decade, leaving banks in the dust. They have been so effective at convincing consumers that they are "their" retirement hubs...

Advisors Eye International Funds, REITs: A MassMutual study of 401(k) participants found that 79% of "high savers," those contributing more than 8% of their salaries to their company's retirement plan, are eager for advice on managing their investments.
March 1, 2008... For financial advisors looking to broaden their product menus, recent research says, international mutual funds and real estate investment trusts are the most attractive additions. Bruce Harrington, a managing director at Cogent Research in...

New Software Tools Can Empower Time-Strapped Advisors.
March 1, 2008... The world of a wealth management advisor is not an easy one, given the seemingly endless amount of information to consider, the need to constantly evaluate new financial products and a tax environment always in flux, but there is hope. ...

Fledgling Programs Hunger for Fees: Small banks are struggling to create business models that will help them bring in recurring revenue sources.(Company overview)
March 1, 2008... It isn't easy being small. While the big regional and national banks can support their reps through a transition to fees, the margins at community banks are shaved closer to the bone. Yet for many program managers and advisors, there are...

Married to the Office: How husband-and-wife advisors keep their home and work lives harmonious.
March 1, 2008... Some advisors may shudder at the thought of working with their spouses, but Pam and Joe Malara combined their married and professional lives to build a successful joint practice in rural Louisiana. Advisors for third-party marketer IPI at...

Control Your Appointments: You can have a steady stream of fruitful appointments with this annual review strategy.
March 1, 2008... Each year, we watch our production odometer roll back to zero. Whether we set a personal best last year or came in short of our goals, a few weeks into January managers start to wonder what we've done for them lately. You won't have to worry if...

Retirement Tax Tips: How clients can avoid the maximum tax hit when withdrawing minimum distributions.
March 1, 2008... There is no way to plan one tax-wise distribution strategy for retirees without knowing the facts of individual cases. However, there are a few critical points to keep in mind that may apply across the board. Advisors agree that one of the most...

Esoteric ETFs: ETFs are increasingly covering investing in narrower and more diverse market niches.
March 1, 2008... "It's a bit like your cellphone. There are all these bells and whistles, but the real value of it is being able to call people," says Louis Hughes a certified financial planner, who works out of the Taylor, Texas, office of Investment Centers...

Gliding Into Retirement: Target-date funds are the new retirement investment solution for the everyman.
March 1, 2008... Ernest Hemingway once famously responded to F. Scott Fitzgerald's observation that "The rich aren't like you and I," with, "Yeah, they've got more money." Wealthy clients can hire a fund manager who will typically invest aggressively for...

Get Relevant: As markets sputter, bank wealth management teams need to prove their worth as core to the institution as a whole.
March 1, 2008... It's the best of times and the worst of times for the heads of bank wealth managers. While their profits are more than double the corporate average, earnings growth often straggles at half the corporate pace. The subprime mortgage fiasco and...

Northern Exposure.
March 1, 2008... BIC: What new opportunities are in your territory? Finn: I've been in this business for 30 years, always in a bank and always working with older, conservative clients. My main growth opportunity is through ongoing service, which brings in...