A Tale Of Two Studies: Highlights From The Cisco Wealth Management Study And FPA Compensation Study Hot

Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG) Wealth Management Study

This is the second annual report from Cisco’s IBSG highlighting findings from their study on wealthy investor’s attitudes regarding investing, their relationship with their financial advisor, and how they prefer to interact with their financial advisor. For the study, Cisco IBSG interviewed more than 1,200 wealthy investors in the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany.  These investors had $500,000 or greater in investable assets.  

Some of the key findings highlighted in the report include:

• More than 27 percent of wealth U.S. investors don’t have a financial advisor. More than two-thirds of these said they would consider hiring an advisor under the right circumstances.
• Of wealthy investors in the U.S, 77 percent have assets at more than one firm and 36 percent have assets with four or more firms.
• Only 29 percent of the investors under age 55 trust the financial advice they receive from their advisors more than that of fellow investors.
• Investors under 55 have a strong interest in services that incorporate visual, virtual, social, mobile, blog, and webinar activities and 57 percent of U.S. investors are willing to move assets to firms that provide technology-based services.
• According to industry figures, as much as 98 percent of client assets leave the advisor when the second spouse passes away. To retain clients and the wealth this represents, financial advisors should increase their interactions with the families of clients, particularly the next generation by using video and collaboration technologies.
• More than 20 percent of wealth investors in the U.S. and U.K. live more than 50 miles from their financial advisor, resulting in less face-to-face meetings.
• Forty-nine percent of wealthy investors consider themselves to be “early adopters” of technology or in the “early majority” of those who use new devices and services.
• Seventy-one percent use a PC to check or manage their investments at least once per month and 28 percent use smartphones and 24 percent use tablets
• About 50 percent of wealthy investors have used some type of video to communicate with friends, family, or colleagues in the past year.
• Sixty-one percent of under-55 investors want the option of having video meetings with advisors (in addition to in-person meetings).

The last seven bullet points all refer to technology trends affecting investors and their relationship with their advisor. Advisors should consider these shifting trends as they build out their technology portfolio to communicate with clients.

There is also becoming less need to have as many face-to-face meetings. Video chatting, video calling, meeting online, and collaborating online are all fast becoming requested preferences, particularly among younger clients. For clients that are farther from your office, or live out of state full-time or part of the year, video meetings make a lot of sense.

Although Cisco has a vested interest in making a connection between their solutions with some of these findings, I believe this study, as well as others, clearly shows there is a shifting trend in how advisors should communicate with clients. This is becoming increasingly evident as we look at how the next generation of clients prefers to communicate- shorter, more frequent contact as opposed to longer, but more infrequent communication.

For more information about the Cisco IBSG study, go to www.cisco.com/go/ibsg/financialservices.

In a future post, I will take a look at the options available to advisors for communicating and collaborating with clients.

2012-2013 Financial Planning Compensation Study

The Financial Planning Association (FPA) released its compensation study, including information on compensation, incentive, and benefit data for positions including financial planner, technical specialties, and support staff.

The study breaks down the information by firm size, region of the country, and job position, among other criteria.

Key information included in the report:

• Average salaries, bonuses, and incentives for your region of the country.
• Compensation by various firm and individual characteristics.
• Benefits and incentive info regarding how many firms provide which specific benefits and incentives.
• Amount and time off type provided by firms

If you are not an FPA member or are an academic industry participant (students and instructors), you can still order the study. It is only available in electronic format.

You can contact the FPA to order the report by calling 800-322-4237, option 2 or by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Cost:

FPA Members: $99
Non-members: $159
Academics: $49

This Website Is For Financial Professionals Only