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Meeting RIAs' Online Needs

By Lee Kowarski

Back in December, Eric wrote a blog piece about the ways wholesaling and marketing to the RIA marketplace were different than supporting other channels. I want to explore one of Eric's recommendations further: "develop customized online content for RIAs."

RIAs make greater use of online capabilities than financial advisors in other channels and unlike other advisors, RIAs prefer online support to communication by phone or in-person. They spend 14.1 hours online per week for work, compared to 13.2 hours weekly for advisors overall, and nearly 28% of that time is spent on asset managers' Web sites. But only 60% of asset managers offer RIAs a robust online experience on a Web site designed for their particular needs for institutional-quality research and product information.

Most firms' advisor Web sites feature interactive tools, sales ideas and value-added programs designed to sell funds, in addition to product information. But a Web site for RIAs needs to strip away any notion of selling or marketing and feature only comprehensive, institutional-quality facts, figures, and thought leadership in the form of whitepapers and expert commentary on events and markets. RIAs also need to be able to compare products easily and review attribution analysis, holdings, and a vast array of MPT statistics on the firm's products - different information than a financial professional usually requires. For example, Pioneer Investments' dedicated RIA site strips away much of the content on its general advisor Web site and delivers the facts, figures, and expert commentary that RIAs want.

For firms looking to support the RIA marketplace, the need to provide them with comprehensive online support cannot be overstated. To earn an RIAs' attention and loyalty, firms must:

• Develop a dedicated RIA Web site which offers sophisticated, institutional-quality facts and figures on funds and investment strategies and offer analytical capabilities to compare products (most firms will be able to reuse existing content and functionality and will simply need to strip away irrelevant information)
• Use thought leadership to build a "trusted advisor" relationship (showcase whitepapers, firm news, and expert commentary on investments, markets and the economy)
• Reach out regularly with targeted, relevant e-mail containing links to thought leadership and product updates (unlike most advisors, RIAs are open to receiving more e-mail, as long as it is targeted)
• Provide mobile access to thought leadership and fund information (62% of RIAs use a mobile device to access work content other than e-mail, compared to 54% of all advisors)