With market uncertainty persisting at the beginning of 2012, wealth managers must stay up-to-date on the attitudes, needs and behaviors of their clients. The VIP Forum’s Q1 2012 Consumer Financial Monitor report presents a comparison of wealth levels to provide your firm with current and comprehensive information about global consumer financial sentiment and trends.

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The News: Advisors face a sustained revenue drain as retiring clients liquidate long-term holdings to shift focus to preserving retirement funds. Read More »

This spring, The VIP Forum will present its outlook on the industry by highlighting five emerging trends that will shape the upcoming years of the business. Here is a preview of the trends for 2012:

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The News: New research finds elite advisors use “social prospecting” to grow their business. Read More »

It’s no secret that since the financial crisis advisors’ ability to build clients’ confidence in their financial situations has become critical to developing successful relationships. In fact, VIP Forum data suggests that advisors who deliver a confidence-building client experience generate 2x revenue per client compared to advisors who do not. However, simply knowing the importance of emotional intelligence is a far stretch from demonstrating emotional intelligence in everyday interactions.

The debate continues as to whether emotional intelligence is an inherent characteristic that can’t be taught or whether it can indeed be coached. While some advisors may naturally have higher levels of emotional intelligence, The VIP Forum has found that there are tools and tactics firms can use to better position all advisors to deliver emotionally intelligent interactions with their clients.

In our March webinar, we’ll explore the key emotional competencies that are crucial for success in today’s environment, successful coaching and training programs targeted at improving these competencies, and a set of tips and tactics that will help firms equip their advisors to improve their client engagement and communication skills and deepen relationships with clients.

Register today to learn how to improve your advisors’ EQ.

In a recent VIP Forum Community question, a fellow VIP Forum member asked for recommendations on how to structure an incentive program for retail bankers to appropriately refer business to wealth management lines based on client need. VIP members cited some insightful responses including the importance of keeping incentives “simple and direct”, having “referral sources actually attend the client meetings”, and “showing bankers what successful referral value brings to the group so they can see how they add to it.”

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Post-crisis conservative asset allocation has decreased revenue, while commoditization in product and price have forced firms to compete by increasing service levels, driving cost increases. Read More »

The News: The percentage of HNW clients rating their satisfaction with their advisor at 9 or 10 has dropped sharply this year, with much of client dissatisfaction caused by “irrelevant communication”. Read More »

Yesterday, The VIP Forum launched the first wave of its 2012 advisor benchmarking survey. Over 2,000 wealth advisors across the globe received the survey, with another couple thousand scheduled to receive it over the course of the month.

The survey examines the key drivers of advisor productivity and engagement in today’s environment, collecting key benchmarks including client loads, compensation levels, support staff ratios, time spend metrics, and intention to stay with their firm. The Forum last ran the survey in 2008, collecting 2006 and 2007 data, which will provide an interesting comparison to the post-crisis data.

Key findings from the 2008 survey, Boosting Advisor Productivity, included the following:

• How advisors spend their time with clients is more important than how much time they spend with clients
• Team support improves individual advisor productivity
• Targeted manager coaching improves advisor performance

We plan to analyze the data by key roles, including generalist relationship manager, business development officer, trust officer, private banker, and portfolio manager.

If you would like to learn more about the survey, please reach out to us at VIPResearch@executiveboard.com. All participating firms receive a custom benchmarking report comparing their firm to the overall industry and a self-selected peer group.

The News: A recent report shows that most financial firms still miss the mark when it comes to serving female HNW clients. Ninety-six percent of surveyed women want their unique circumstances and entire life picture understood by their financial advisor.

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