Data & Research May 16, 2008

Advisers Are a Plugged In Bunch

Tech-savvy advisers might appreciate if asset management Web sites stepped up their game, according to a study by kasina asset management consultancy.
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The study What Advisers Do Online found that the vast majority of advisers are comfortable executing routine transactions online, capable of navigating Web 2.0 technologies, and routinely using the Web for both information and entertainment.

In the study, kasina asked over 500 advisers across all age groups and channels about their online habits and preferences. According to the survey, few advisers are satisfied with the usability of asset manager Web sites. Only 33% felt it was easy to find information on asset manager sites, and only 31% agreed that asset manager homepages are well designed.

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As the study indicates, the Web is becoming an increasingly important part of the asset manager-adviser relationship, kasina said. It might also be increasingly important to the adviser-investor relationship (see Investors Turn to the Web for Answers).

The kasina study also revealed that advisers regularly use advanced online technologies on non-industry Web sites. YouTube is surprisingly popular among all advisers, with 78% of advisers ages 20 to 40, 61% of advisers ages 41 to 60, and 34% of advisers ages 61 to 80, visiting the site. RSS feeds and podcasts are also popular with advisers of virtually all ages.

The report sample highlights a few Web sites popular with advisers: Google, Yahoo! Finance, Wikipedia, wsj.com, and Morningstar.

To order the report, visit www.kasina.com.


Products May 16, 2008

National Financial Unveils Multimedia Tools for Brokers and Advisers

The National Financial Broker&Advisor Center portal provides access to more than 100 business and trading resources for brokers and advisers via the Streetscape Workstation.
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National Financial, a Fidelity Investments company, launched the multimedia Web site designed to provide resources that can assist brokers and advisers in their efforts to grow their books of business and broker/dealer firms in their efforts to retain successful brokers. It is the newest enhancement to the Streetscape workstation and the National Financial Broker and Advisor Development Program, according to a press release from National Financial.

The Web site integrates more than 100 broker- and adviser-specific resources, including more than 30 multimedia pieces, such as education and training videos, informational podcasts and flash demos, according to National Financial. The portal also includes more than 40 continuing education (CE) modules as well as whitepapers and investor-level materials.

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“Increasingly, brokers and advisers are hungry for more marketing and professional development support to help them grow their books of business,’ said Sandy Metraux, Executive Vice President of Marketing at National Financial, in the release. “Exclusively through Streetscape, the Broker & Advisor Center consolidates numerous high quality resources that help brokers and advisers better service their investors and ultimately drive top-line growth.’

The release said the Broker & Advisor Center will offer the following:

  • information on investment strategies, best practices, sales ideas and investor-marketing materials (such as third-party financial markets insights and access to investor research);
  • product and service information (such as annuities and mutual funds), customized to allow brokers and advisers to see only the information and products related to their broker/dealer firm.
  • educational resources on investing, regulatory, and legislative changes, and financial planning.
  • news on the latest industry alerts, announcements, and investor communications from National Financial.

As part of the Broker & Adviser Center, National Financial developed a turn-key, six-week communications program to help broker/dealer firms increase adoption and usage rates of the Web site among their brokers and advisers, the release said. The program includes a two-minute multimedia demo that shows the main features and capabilities of the site, interactive e-mails sent to brokers and advisers that highlight new product and service offerings, and ready-to-use banner advertisements that firms can use on their own internal Web sites.

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