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Despite Pressures, National Accounts Needs Love

by Lee

Over the past several weeks, we have been conducting a series of surveys to see how Sales and National Accounts executives are responding to the ongoing financial crisis and the resulting mergers among distributors. As we are seeing an increased role of the research analyst function at the wirehouses and other major distributors, I was especially interested in how National Accounts teams are changing.

I was pleased to see that 80% of asset management companies and variable annuity providers are considering making changes to their National Accounts team for 2009. Compensation and team structures certainly have room to improve. At the same time, however, I was disappointed to hear that 60% of firms expect each National Account Manager to support more distributors next year than they do today, driven largely by anticipated layoffs. The majority of National Account Managers today are overwhelmed and unable to think strategically about their relationships. With the average team having only seven managers, each of whom currently supports six distribution partners, it is important for firms to either expand their team, decrease the number of distributors supported, or both. I have found that the firms whose National Account Managers are able to focus on three or fewer relationships have found far greater distribution success.

Other findings of note from our National Accounts survey include:

• 30% of respondents plan to add National Account Managers in the near future while another 30% plan to decrease the number of National Account Managers
• Despite the anticipation of a weak economy, 40% of firms expect their National Account Managers to make as much in 2009 as they did this year, or more
• 30% are considering detaching National Account Manager compensation from distributor-specific sales
• 20% are considering detaching National Account Manager compensation from overall firm sales (and 20% have already done so)