Bank Investment Consultant articles from September 2003

Bank Investment Consultant archives from September 2003

A Place to Talk.
September 1, 2003... Last month, I mentioned lunchtime visits I made to major banks in lower Manhattan. The investment areas in those two branches, if not off-putting, were at best uninviting. I said the physical set-up reminded me of the areas in car showrooms...

Investment Programs See Stronger First Half.
September 1, 2003... It may be a stretch to compare Gold Bank to Wal-Mart. But the Midwestern community bank and financial services firm - with $3.6 billion in banking assets and $1.2 billion in investment assets under management - is following a Wal-Mart-like...

Citigroup Fires Top Exec for Compliance Slip.
September 1, 2003... In a move that demonstrates the seriousness with which financial institutions take continuing education requirements - especially in light of its recent problems with regulators - Citigroup dismissed the top executive in its Citicorp brokerage...

New Products.
September 1, 2003... The Hartford Financial Services Group has created the Leaders Smart529 multi-manager college savings program offering 16 individual fund options or eight preselected portfolios based on risk tolerance or investment horizon. (866) 574-3542 or...

Survey Finds Low Awareness of 529 Plans.
September 1, 2003... Nearly two-thirds (64%) of parents and grandparents (65%) are not familiar with Section 529 college savings plans, according to the most recent annual study of college financial preparedness conducted for AllianceBernstein Investment Research...

New BB&T Unit Courts Wealthy in Southeast.
September 1, 2003... BB&T Corp. plans to combine its personal trust and private financial services departments into a wealth management division designed to attract and retain affluent clients in the bank's 11-state Southeastern market. The unit will be rolled out...

New York Life Pitches Trust to Banks.
September 1, 2003... New York Life Insurance Co. has started to market a variety of trust products through its own agents and, soon, through banks. Mary Alice Raushi, president and chief executive officer of New York Life Trust Co., which is based in...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
September 1, 2003... The following quotation in "Retirement Planning and Your Clients" (BIC, August 2003, page 24) was attributed incorrectly to Jerry West, vice president, ABN-AMRO. The speaker was Matt Sharpe, leader of GE Financial's Retirement Income Channel:...

Banks' Sales of Fixed Annuities Decline at Nationwide.
September 1, 2003... Nationwide Financial Services Inc. blamed low rates for a steep drop in its second-quarter fixed annuity bank sales. The Columbus, Ohio, insurer had $379 million of fixed annuity sales through banks, down 36% year over year and 22% from the...

Broker Pay Dropped Again in 2002.
September 1, 2003... The year 2002 saw broker pay drop for the second consecutive year. Median gross production dropped 11.2% to $263,688 in 2002, down from $296,923 in 2001, according to data released in July by the Securities Industry Association, the...

Bank Briefs.
September 1, 2003... Washington-based Riggs National Corporation, parent of Riggs Bank and Riggs Investment Advisors, has sold approximately $470 million in mutual fund assets of eight Riggs mutual funds to eight existing funds of Federated Investors. The financial...

How One Rep Got Organized: Wachovia advisor Robert Rose tamed the paperwork and confusion that was holding him back - and business blossomed.
September 1, 2003... Between clenched teeth, Clint Eastwood once famously hissed: "A man's got to know his limitations." Taking that piece of gritty wisdom to heart, Robert Rose, a financial advisor at Wachovia, has faced up to the fact that his particular...

Rep Data.
September 1, 2003... AUM: $68 million Production: $625,000 gross Licenses: Series 7, 9, 10, 63, 65 Copyright 2003 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.thomsonmedia.com http://www.bankinvestmentmktg.com

Bringing SMAs Into Focus: In marketing separately managed accounts, banks share many of the challenges faced by the wirehouses - as well as a few of their own.
September 1, 2003... In the wirehouse march to fee-based business, separately managed accounts (SMAs) have been leading the way. Banks are marching to the fee-based drummer, too. But as wirehouses grapple with the switch from commissions and transactions, banks...

Do Business With Affinity Groups And Come Closer to Success.
September 1, 2003... You don't have to be a magician to turn one good client into 10 or 20. But it doesn't hurt to be a bank investment consultant. In fact, from where you sit, the opportunity to attract groups of like-minded clients may be closer than you think....

Maximizing CU Affinity.
September 1, 2003... When you're an advisor in a credit union, your clients already are an affinity group - their common interest is their membership in the credit union. So why aren't you doing standing-room-only business? Probably because you're not...

How CUSO Financial Grew its Niche: With a low-key, CU-like approach to investments, this San Diego-based broker-dealer keeps growing.
September 1, 2003... Shhh. Don't tell CUSO Financial Services (CFS) that the economy is going nowhere. The San Diego-based third-party marketer finished 2002 with a nearly 50% hike in revenues to $36 million - and a 330% rise in profitability to more than $1...

At A Glance: CFS.
September 1, 2003... Number of CUs: 70 2002 AUM: $4 billion Series 7 Reps: 250 Copyright 2003 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.thomsonmedia.com http://www.bankinvestmentmktg.com

Debate Grows on Closed Funds' 12b-1 Fees: Should funds that no longer market still charge marketing fees?
September 1, 2003... Mutual funds that have hung out a closed sign shouldn't still be levying 12b-1 fees, which are used for marketing and promotion of the funds. So says Phil Edwards, managing director of funds research at Standard & Poor's (S&P). If a fund...

What's Playing in Peoria?: If you want to know the mood of Middle America, Michael DiLeonardi can give you a solid answer.
September 1, 2003... For the past two years, Michael DiLeonardi has overseen retirement investment services at the Peoria, Ill., branch of Associated Trust Co. For seven years before joining this Upper Midwest regional based in Green Bay, Wis., DiLeonardi, 43,...