Geared toward both wealth and
retirement plan advisers, the site has educational one-pagers and short video
tutorials for advisers, which highlight the benefits of using tools such as LinkedIn and Google Alerts. Advisers will also
find useful mobile apps, a checklist for hosting successful client
events, as well as relevant investment insights.
Using Google Alerts and
LinkedIn, advisers can expand their professional network, generate
referral activity, automatically gather intelligence about clients and
prospects, as well as learn more about their competition. Three-to-five minute video tutorials demonstrate how to
get set up with these productivity tools as well how to use select
advanced features.
A comprehensive list of advanced features and quick tips
can be found on each tool’s respective one-page resource. Useful apps
that allow advisers to manage and share presentations with clients from
most mobile devices, pick the right wine for client events, as well as
locate the best service options within any airport at the touch of a
button are also described.
Most Valuable Service is Helping to Maintain Perspective
More than
half (55%) of advisers say the most valuable service they provide to
clients in or near retirement is helping the client maintain perspective
and think clearly about events and trends.
According to Russell Investments’ latest Financial Professional
Outlook (FPO), a quarterly survey of U.S. financial advisers, creating a retirement income plan (39%) and reducing portfolio volatility (34%) are the second and third most valuable services they provide to clients.
Disparity − or a “value gap”− is revealed when survey
participants were asked how clients would respond to the same question,
according to a press release. When asked to consider where retired or
near-retirement clients see the most value from them, responses included
protecting portfolio principal (56%) and providing sufficient income
(48%). However, less than a quarter of advisers agree that either of
these is the most valuable service they provide.
The majority of advisers surveyed indicated they believe their
clients have realistic expectations about retirement (68% of advisers
say less than 40% of clients have unrealistic expectations). The survey
also showed the most common topics of conversation advisers are
initiating with clients in or near retirement include generating
sufficient income (50%), portfolio rebalancing/shifting asset
allocation, and discussions about running out of money in retirement.
When asked what tools they use to facilitate conversations with
clients who have unrealistic expectations around retirement, there is no
consensus. About one third (37%) of survey respondents say they use a
detailed plan, followed by 16% who give a presentation about how to
think about retirement, and 14% who say they use a blank piece of paper.
Ten percent of the survey group selected “other” and put forward more
than 20 other types of tools and approaches they use to support
conversations around retirement income planning.
Each quarter, the
Financial Professional Outlook survey asks advisers about both their sentiment and their clients’
sentiment with respect to the capital markets broadly over the next
three years. In the latest survey, optimistic sentiment dropped among
both advisers and clients and the “sentiment gap” between the two groups
widened; there is a 59% gap in adviser-investor optimism, versus 48%
last quarter.
Overall, 72% of advisers report being optimistic
about the capital markets broadly, versus 13% who cite being
pessimistic. With respect to the clients’ perspective, 13% of advisers
feel their clients are optimistic about the capital markets this
quarter, down from 29% in the June 2011 survey.
For the current
installment of the survey, Russell collected the opinions of 374
financial advisers working in nearly 150 national, regional, and
independent advisory firms nationwide. The survey took place
between July 28 and August 12.