As life worldwide gradually transitions to a new post-pandemic norm, asset management firms are at a crossroads. Do they continue the digital evolution that helped them survive and thrive over the past year—or shift back to a strategy that deems in-person meetings to be an “essential” step toward a sale?
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In today’s competitive asset management landscape, it can be tough to stand out from the pack. Identifying what makes your firm unique—and being able to explain it effectively to advisors—is key for long-term success. In fact, while some firms’ value propositions have a wider appeal to advisors than others, the most important thing is to have a value proposition that advisors understand and remember.
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As the S&P 500 continues to hit new highs, an increasingly large sum of retail and so-called “smart money” flows are focused on ferreting out any and all sources of non-correlated return streams. This includes relatively new investment classes such as cryptocurrencies and special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) as well as traditional diversifiers such as gold, real estate, hedge funds and private equity.
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Nearly 8 in 10 financial advisors use model portfolios according to our recent survey of financial advisors, conducted in association with Horsesmouth. Of those that use model portfolios, 75% do so because using model portfolios helps them to provide better service to their customers or because using models gives them more time to build their businesses and interact with clients. For asset managers who provide models, this contingent of advisors is important. They represent nearly 71% of assets among advisor practices that use models.
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Existing customers are among a firm’s most valuable assets. Harvard Business Review recently highlighted research showing that companies who are loyalty leaders—at the top of their industries in Net Promoter scores or satisfaction rankings for three or more years—grow revenues roughly 2.5 times as fast as their peers.
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It has been widely reported that retail investing has been booming, fueled by a combination of “Reddit meme stocks” and use of stimulus money by first-time investors. There have been well documented cases of employees at broker-dealer and investment advisory firms being distracted by the gamification of the stock market and the use of apps that have made access to markets easier than ever.
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The expectations and scope of financial advice have evolved considerably over the past 10 years. Meanwhile, growing wealth and slow growth in the number of financial advisors in the industry represent increasing opportunities for existing and new financial advisors to grow their practices. As a result, what advisors are looking for from their asset management partners continues to change.
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Like most industries, strategies to keep customers from leaving take a back seat to driving new sales. But reducing redemptions can be more cost-effective and profitable than finding new clients. In fact, one asset manager that we work with has found that, among similarly priced products, one with a 21% higher retention rate translates to 33% higher revenue.
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