Fidelity Introduces Prospecting Tool

Fidelity Investments is making a tool available to advisers that helps them prospect more than 1.5 million retirement plans.

“Referral-EDGE” is a Web-based research tool designed to help advisers find prospective clients and networking opportunities. 

The tool is an extension of Fidelity’s Centers of Influence (COI) and Referral Strategies program. The database includes pubic information about more than 2.5 million high-net-worth individuals, 1.5 million retirement plans and nearly 150,000 foundations and endowments, Fidelity says.  The information is updated daily and is pooled from more than 3,000 U.S. sources.

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“Referrals are often an untapped opportunity for advisers looking to grow their practices,” said David E. Canter, executive vice president and head of Practice Management and Consulting at Fidelity Institutional Wealth Services.“Taking a proactive, hands-on approach to networking and prospecting can help advisers stand out from other firms in an increasingly competitive RIA marketplace.”

Advisers can search the database for detailed profiles of existing clients, prospects or professional connections using an array of demographic variables, including geographic location (e.g., by zip code), level of assets (e.g., publicly traded investment details), professional and social affiliations (e.g., co-workers or alumni), and more.  Once the adviser has selected the search criteria, Referral-EDGE aggregates and synthesizes detailed public information and generates a list of individuals that the adviser can evaluate for his or her practice.   

Advisers also are able to save their search criteria to create automatic “Daily Alerts” which will notify them of any activity on a prospect or client. Customized for Fidelity clients, the Referral-EDGE “Quick Search” menu allows advisers to quickly research existing clients and find COIs in their city as well as locate high-net-worth individuals who have had recent promotions or changed companies.

Symetra Expands Sales Team

Symetra Life Insurance Company hired Wes Severin as sales leader for its western division, along with six new regional vice presidents.

As western divisional sales manager of Life and Retirement Sales, Severin will be responsible for sales planning and day-to-day management and training of 12 external wholesalers covering the western United States.   

Most recently, Severin was national sales director of financial institution markets at Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company in Denver, Colorado. Before that, he was a financial adviser with Simmers Capital Management.   

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The regional vice presidents will provide annuity and life insurance sales support to financial planners in the following territories:  

  • Christopher Grubbs (Territory: Maryland, Washington, D.C., Virginia) — Grubbs most recently served as a regional vice president at New York Life. He also has held sales positions with ING and GE Financial (now Genworth Financial).  
  • Lydia Hopper (Territory: Los Angeles, Central California) — Hopper joins Symetra from Michel Financial Group, where she was an annuity specialist. She previously held regional sales roles at MassMutual Financial Group and AIG SunAmerica. 
  • Brad Kiesling (Territory: North Texas, Oklahoma) — Kiesling is an experienced annuity and life insurance sales professional, having held external wholesaling roles at Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company, AXA Equitable and Genworth Financial. He also was a regional director for Cherry Financial Partners. 
  • Matthew O’Neil (Territory: Maine, New York, Vermont) — O’Neil comes to Symetra from Genworth Financial, where he was a regional vice president responsible for annuity sales in upstate New York. He previously held regional sales roles at Phoenix Life and Liberty Funds Distributors. 
  • Matthew Sennet (Territory: Florida, excluding Panhandle) — Sennet joins Symetra from ING Financial Solutions, where he was a regional vice president in north Florida. He also has served as a regional marketing director for Lincoln Financial Distributors and a Florida district retirement planning adviser for Merrill Lynch.  
  • Tammy Viccari (Territory: Georgia, East Tennessee and Florida Panhandle) — Viccari brings to Symetra 13 years of experience as a successful external and internal wholesaler at ING Financial Services and Wachovia. Her financial services background also includes work as a stock broker at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter.  

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