To provide our clients with high quality tailored consulting and research, we need to know the financial services industry and our clients. To build lasting and profitable relationships, we dedicate ourselves to staying not just current on, but ahead of industry trends. This blog is intended to share our industry insights and, at the same time, to capture feedback from our readers.
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Top Learnings from the kasina Internal/Hybrid Roundtable
This past Tuesday May 22, kasina hosted the Internal/Hybrid roundtable, focused on the needs and issues of internal and hybrid wholesaling executives. We had representation from firms of all sizes and structures. Large and small, there was consensus and passion regarding where internal wholesaling was heading and the potential these teams had to play a role in defining their firms’ success. Some of the key things we learned were:
Firms use hybrids, but don’t call them thatHybrid wholesaling is still seen as a way for firms to augment their traditional internal and external teams to address key needs. Just don’t call them hybrids. The nature, title and focus of these teams varied greatly but the consensus from those that had them, was that they were profitable for the firm.
2:1 is the new blackForget 1:1 ratios – firms are starting to think about moving to a 2:1 coverage model. As one executive noted:... [read more]
Data Mining Lessons from Pharma for Asset Managers
Pharmaceutical industry practices in sales and marketing have long been a harbinger of what is to come in asset management. As we wrote in a recent study on Progressing from Analytics to Action for Data-Driven Firms, pharma has made notable strides in adopting a data-driven approach but it was not by choice and did not come easily. That theme is echoed in the New York Times on drug makers’ use of prescription and patient data to provide information customized to physicians’ needs and improve patient outcomes.
Just as pharma reps are finding it more difficult to get meetings with physicians, wholesalers are having to work harder to get meetings with financial advisors. Just as best-selling drugs have lost their patent protection, mutual funds are perceived as highly commoditized products. Drug companies are using data to rank physicians based on their patient base, their connections, their product use and more. That... [read more]
Field Notes on Big Data and Social Media from the ICI GMM
Having just released studies on big data and social media in the past couple of months, my ears were particularly attuned to discussion of these topics at the recent Investment Company Institute General Membership Meeting.
Senior leaders from Goldman Sachs, Fidelity and OppenheimerFunds participated in a lively review of operations and technology priorities, including the role of big data. As one participant pointed out, big data has been around for many years, but it is now being used to solve new problems and take advantage of opportunities to personalize customer experiences and conduct sentiment analysis. When two-thirds of the business still comes through omnibus account providers, firms are challenged to gain critical insight into their shareholders. But the panelists agreed on the importance of framing this as a shared challenge of firms and the transfer agencies and trading platforms through which they distribute to build a common view of the... [read more]
Gaining Advantage with Predictive Analytics
At a mid-size firm using a predictive analytics tool to identify cross- and up-sell opportunities, the results in incremental sales lift have been compelling. When internals are able to have contact with leads identified by the tool, the average incremental sales lift is 1.5 – 2 times that of leads identified through traditional methods. The lift grows to 2-3 times on average when wholesalers are able to get a meeting. “Why wouldn’t someone want a list of names like that?” the head of distribution for the firm asked. Indeed.
Early Adopters Get an Edge
Yet interviews conducted for a new study on Increasing Business Impact with Predictive Analytics reveal that very few asset managers and insurers are using predictive analytics tools. The early adopters are looking for efficiencies in their contact with customers. They want to their wholesalers to have more impactful contact with advisors. They view predictive analytics solutions as... [read more]
Social as the New Normal
According to kasina’s latest study, Building a Competitive Social Media Competency, more and more asset managers are getting into the social media space but few are actually measuring the returns of their efforts. Similar to other projects in which businesses invest money and human capital, social media has distinct costs and benefits that need to be articulated. Without understanding what and how social media contributes to various business objectives, asset managers are missing opportunities to maximize gains from effective social media campaigns.
At this stage of the game, companies need to move beyond simply having a presence on social channels by actively providing resources that advisors look for and engaging them on forums that facilitate relationship building. Having lackluster social pages with undifferentiated content from company websites and no interactivity negates the value of using social platforms. Asset managers have a tremendous opportunity to reach advisors on social media. Today... [read more]