New Schwab Institutional Industry Report Reveals Affluent Investors Have a High Degree of Trust in Independent Investment Adviso
May 23 2005 - 10:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
New Schwab Institutional Industry Report Reveals Affluent Investors
Have a High Degree of Trust in Independent Investment Advisors
Affluent Investors Rank Investment Performance Seventh Behind
Advisor Trustworthiness and Competence; 90% Would Refer Their
Advisors to Others SAN FRANCISCO, May 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
Nearly 90 percent of affluent investors working with an independent
investment advisor are "very satisfied" with the level of
"trustworthiness" of their advisor according to new industry
research developed by Moss Adams and Advisor Impact for Schwab
Institutional. The report, "Key Strategies For Building Optimal
Client Relationships: Analysis Of Advisor End-Client Feedback",
also reveals that a full 90 percent of clients surveyed would be
comfortable providing referrals to their financial advisor. The
report summarizes Advisor Impact and Moss Adams findings from more
than 6,000 responses from clients of advisors over a two-year
period, one of the most comprehensive advisor client studies of its
kind. The survey focused on two key questions about the client
service provided by advisors: What do your clients expect from you?
How well are you meeting those expectations? Among the other report
findings are: -- Investment performance is not the most important
aspect of service for advisors' clients -- it ranks seventh behind
issues such as advisor trustworthiness and competence. -- On
average, just seven percent of the respondents say their accounts
are at risk (at risk meaning they are neutral or dissatisfied with
the overall relationship with their financial advisors). For
clients with more than $500,000 in total investable assets, five
percent are at risk. -- Nearly half (47%) of respondents with more
than $500,000 in investable assets say they have never held a
family meeting to discuss plans for their estates. -- The majority
of respondents (59%) say communications from their advisors with an
educational focus are more valuable than client appreciation
events. -- Roughly 60 percent of respondents say they are
comfortable discussing their plan or portfolio with a member of the
team other than their primary financial advisor. -- Sixty-three
percent of respondents indicate that the frequency of contact with
their advisor meets their needs. "This one-of-a-kind study makes it
clear that affluent investors who work with advisors are extremely
satisfied and have a strong and trusting relationship with their
advisors," said Ann Simon, vice president of Schwab Institutional.
"Building client loyalty has a direct and measurable impact on
revenue, and we're pleased to be able to support advisors with the
tools they need to further enhance the loyalty their clients feel
toward them." Key Strategies for Satisfaction The report provides
key findings and analysis, along with actionable steps advisors can
take to build optimal relationships with their clients. The
strategies focus on: -- Maximizing client loyalty. Highly satisfied
clients remain loyal and profitable. This section discusses the
importance of focusing on a core offering and outlines how to
manage client expectations. -- Unlock the untapped revenue
opportunities. Client profitability improves when there is
opportunity to sell additional products and services, generate
referrals and earn a larger percentage of clients' investable
assets. This section outlines three steps to improving a firm's
revenue-building opportunities. -- Systematically gather feedback.
By defining a service model and gathering actionable feedback there
is opportunity to continually reinforce how a firm meets
expectations and reinforces its value. The report provides a sample
self-assessment to help firms structure a survey to gather client
satisfaction and client opportunity data. "Key Strategies For
Building Optimal Client Relationships: Analysis Of Advisor
End-Client Feedback" is the latest in a series of Schwab Market
Knowledge Tools(TM) (MKT) reports, an ongoing program of industry
research reports, white papers and guides from Schwab Institutional
designed to keep investment advisors on the forefront of trends and
competitive challenges facing the industry today. Offered
exclusively to Schwab Institutional clients, the MKT program
delivers relevant and timely information for future business
planning. About Schwab Institutional Schwab Institutional, a
division of Charles Schwab & Co. Inc., is a leading provider of
custodial, operational and trading support for independent
fee-based investment advisors. Client assets custodied with Schwab
Institutional increased 16 percent to $352 billion between March
31, 2004 and March 31, 2005. These assets, managed by the
approximately 5,000 independent advisor firms Schwab Institutional
serves, represent approximately one-third of total customer assets
custodied with The Charles Schwab Corporation as of March 31, 2005.
About Moss Adams Moss Adams LLP provides accounting and management
consulting services to advisory firms throughout the US, Canada and
Australia. With a particular expertise in the financial services
industry, Moss Adams has provided consulting services to more than
1,200 investment management firms, broker-dealers and financial
advisors on matters related to compensation, organizational design,
valuation, mergers and acquisitions, financial management,
strategic planning and leadership development. Moss Adams is the
eleventh largest accounting and consulting firm in the U.S., with a
staff of 1,100, including 180 partners. For more information on
Moss Adams, visit http://www.mossadams.com/industries/sin. About
Advisor Impact Advisor Impact, Inc. provides research, training and
tools to help financial advisors to improve client loyalty and
profitability and is a leading provider of research on attitudes
and trends among investors and advisors. Advisor Impact's very
successful Client Audit program, designed to gauge satisfaction and
identify additional opportunities among existing clients, is
offered in partnership with Moss Adams. In addition, Advisor Impact
developed The Business Success Kit, a guidebook to improved
practice management and provides on-going training focused on
assessing and improving client profitability. Incorporated in 1998,
the firm works with advisors in the US, Canada and the United
Kingdom. For more information go to http://www.advisorimpact.com/.
About Charles Schwab The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE/Nasdaq:
SCH), through its operating subsidiaries, provides securities
brokerage and financial services to individual investors and the
independent investment advisors who work with them. With over 7
million individual investor accounts and more than $1 trillion in
client assets, The Charles Schwab Corporation is one of the
nation's largest financial services firms. Its subsidiary Charles
Schwab & Co., Inc. (member SIPC) provides a complete range of
investment services and products, including an extensive selection
of mutual funds; financial planning and investment advice;
retirement plans; referrals to independent fee-based investment
advisors; and custodial, operational and trading support for
independent fee-based investment advisors through its Schwab
Institutional division. Its subsidiary Charles Schwab Bank (member
FDIC) provides banking and mortgage services and products. The
corporation's other operating subsidiaries include U.S. Trust
Corporation (member FDIC) and CyberTrader(R), Inc. (member SIPC)
.These companies' Web sites can be reached at
http://www.schwab.com/, http://www.schwabbank.com/,
http://www.ustrust.com/, and http://www.cybertrader.com/.
DATASOURCE: Charles Schwab CONTACT: Lindsay Tiles of Charles
Schwab, +1-415-667-3997, or Web site: http://www.schwab.com/
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