Displaying items by tag: clients

According to a recent survey, market volatility is prompting advisors to actively grow their practices through digital marketing strategies. Broadridge Financial Solutions’ fourth-annual financial advisor marketing survey revealed that 63% of advisors are actively looking for new clients, while only 43% are seeing an increase in inbound prospect inquiries. Financial advisors from both Independent Broker-Dealers (IBDs) and Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) continue to face challenges stemming from competition, increasing compliance, market volatility, and regulatory pressures. This has forced them to come up with new strategies to grow their book. Broadridge has found that one of the better strategies for advisors to increase their pipelines is by implementing digital marketing. Kevin Darlington, general manager, and head of Broadridge Advisor Solutions stated, “…digital media usage is a bright spot and continues to show upward-trending success, as advisors double down on digital strategies and maximize the use of websites, LinkedIn and Facebook to generate leads." The survey also revealed that the success rate of advisors in converting social media leads into clients has been increasing, climbing from 34% in 2019 to 41% in 2022.

Finsum:The current volatility, along with regulatory pressures, and increased compliance has spurred advisors to grow their books through digital marketing.

Last month, LPL Financial announced that it was acquiring Financial Resources Group Investment Services, an LPL branch office that supports financial institutions and advisors. The firm comprises approximately 800 advisors and serves approximately $40 billion of advisory and brokerage assets. Now that deal is paying off as LPL is adding another large team to Financial Resources. The firm was able to lure advisors David Rimkus, Donald Sharko, and Thomas Phelan to LPL and Financial Resources from LaSalle St. Securities. The three-advisor team rebranded its Orland Park, Illinois-based practice as Harbor Lighthouse Wealth Management. Harbor Lighthouse managed about $285 million in client assets at its previous firm and plans to use LPL as its brokerage, registered investment advisor, and custodian, and align with Financial Resources. Rimkus said in an interview that “The choice of Financial Resources enables Harbor Lighthouse to remain part of a firm more closely resembling the size of their prior midsize brokerage even as they became three out of the more than 21,000 advisors with LPL.” He also stated that “The need for technology enabling growth among new and existing clients and succession planning played a role in the move as well.”

Finsum:LPL's recent acquisition of Financial Resources Group is starting to pay dividends as another team of advisors that manages a combined $285 million in assets aligns with the branch.

Direct Indexing is expected to grow faster than ETFs, mutual funds, and separate accounts over the next five years and is poised to reach more than $800 billion in assets by 2026. This is according to The Case for Direct Indexing: Differentiation in a Competitive Marketplace, Cerulli Associates’ second annual report on direct indexing. The report, which was sponsored by Parametric Portfolio Associates, provides the first comprehensive analysis of how advisory firms are using direct indexing to address client needs. It revealed that assets in direct index products reached $462 billion in the first quarter of this year, growing at a 15% rate from the second quarter of last year. However, a recent Cerulli survey showed that only 14% of financial advisors are aware of and recommend direct indexing solutions to their clients. Cerulli expects that number to increase, resulting in direct indexing assets growing at an annualized rate of 12.3% as it becomes more mainstream. The report was designed to help advisors identify situations where direct indexing can help their clients. It examined seven real-world use cases by advisors, which included Tax-Loss Harvesting, Trimming Highly Appreciated Stock Positions, Planned Charitable Giving, and ESG Investing.

Finsum:According to a new report from Cerulli Associates, direct indexing is expected to grow 12.3% annually and reach $800 billion in assets by 2026.

Andrew Hartnett, president of the North American Securities Administrators Association, recently said in an interview that a massive, multi-state sweep of broker-dealers will be completed sometime early next year to gauge the effectiveness of their Reg BI implementation. This should give state regulators “what they hope” will be a clear snapshot of whether firms are putting investors' interests first or not. Last November, similar multi-state exams of 443 firms found pervasive retail advice and sales violations. This was in spite of the fact that Regulation Best Interest had already been in place for more than 15 months at that time. The 2021 sweep found a majority of broker-dealers and reps still putting their interests above their retail clients. The sweep also found that 65% of brokerage firms also failed to discuss lower-cost or lower-risk products with their clients, even when they offered such products. Hartnett stated, “Now we’re out there doing exams again to see where the industry is now, what’s changed and how well firms are implementing the requirements to look at reasonably available alternatives.” NASAA is also ramping up its focus on fees on the registered investment advisor side and expects to release that guidance next year.

Finsum:The time for leniency is over for broker-dealers as the NASAA is planning a multi-state sweep to gauge the effectiveness of their Reg BI enforcement.

Following Altruist’s recent announcement that is enhancing its Model Marketplace and adding UMA capabilities, the firm has now announced a partnership with ESG firm HIP Investor to provide advisors with access to its Fossil Fuel Free Portfolio models. HIP, which was founded in 2006, manages impact-themed strategies and ESG portfolios for advisors and investors. The addition of the ESG models expands Altruist’s values-based investing offerings. Adam Grealish, Head of Investments at Altruist, stated the following as part of the announcement, " With HIP’s Fossil Fuel Free Portfolios on our platform, advisors can build portfolios for any stage of their ESG journey—from dipping in a toe to full allocations to climate action and impactful investing. Our partnership with HIP Investor represents a cornerstone in our continued expansion into values-aligned and higher-impact investing." The firm is also telling advisors to expect more offerings within its Model Marketplace in the coming months.

Finsum:Altruist continues to expand its Model Marketplace with the addition of Fossil Fuel Free model portfolios managed by HIP Investor.