Deals & People January 19, 2012

Putnam Adds Two Team Members

Putnam Investments hired Charlotte Walsh and Greg Weissman as consultant relations professionals.
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Walsh and Weissman, based in Chicago and Boston, respectively, will report directly to Joseph Phoenix, head of Putnam Global Institutional Management. The two are joining a senior-level consultant team that includes Keith Thomas in London and Anne Lundberg in Chicago, as well as two Boston-based consultant relations associates, all of whom will maintain their current roles. The new team will be dedicated to serving the needs of institutional asset management consultants worldwide.    

Walsh joins Putnam from Ranieri Partners, where she was managing director and focused on direct sales and consultant relations. Walsh has a long history of consultant relations experience at firms such as Allegiant Asset Management, Oppenheimer Capital and Banc One Investment Advisors/JP Morgan Asset Management, as well as investment consulting experience at Stratford Advisory Group and William M. Mercer Investment Consulting. She attended Northwestern University and is a CFA charterholder.     

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Weissman joined the firm from Old Mutual Asset Management, where he was senior vice president, director of consultant relations. Before that, he was director, institutional sales for Cowen & Company. Weissman also held senior roles at Pacific Crest Securities and Jefferies & Company. He is a graduate of Southern Methodist University, Edwin Cox School for Business.

 

Data & Research January 19, 2012

Most Advisers Do Not Fit Criteria for Financial Planner

The majority of advisers perceive themselves as providing a level of service that merits the title of financial planner (59%), however, 56% fall into the investment planner category.
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According to survey findings from Cerulli Associates, only 30% of advisers are financial planners, but 59% perceive themselves as this practice type. Fifty-six percent are investment planners but only 22% consider themselves this practice type.

Cerulli identified this discrepancy during the production of its annual release of “Quantitative Update: Advisor Metrics,” a sourcebook for data and analysis on advisers’ practices that has been in circulation for seven years.

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To obtain this data, Cerulli asked advisers via its annual survey to classify their practices based on their perception of the services they offer. Then Cerulli reviewed the actual services offered (data also garnered through surveys) and the client base of each adviser to determine which classification is most reflective of the adviser’s actual practice.

Many adviser practices offer some of the basic elements of financial planning, but focus their efforts nearly exclusively on asset accumulation strategies.

“Firms have encouraged their advisers to expand their advice relationships with clients; however, advisers tend to overestimate the degree to which they are involved in the planning process,” said Scott Smith, head of Cerulli’s intermediary practice. “The movement to extend advice services is likely being accelerated by turbulent markets, as advisers who base their value to investors on investment performance have suffered more than those with broad advice relationships.”

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