imca 2009 practice management survey results
DESCRIPTION
In January 2009, I conducted a practice management survey of IMCA members. The results of that survey were published in a paper I wrote called, From Pain to Gain: How To Capitalize On the Opportunity of A Lifetime, which appeared in the Spring 2009 issue of the IMCA Monitor. This slide presentation summarizes the results. You can access the article at http://www.stevesaenz.com/from-pain-to-gain-how-to-capitalize-on-a-once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity.htmlTRANSCRIPT
IMCA 2009 Practice Management Survey, Designed Administered by Steve Saenz | SteveSaenz.com
IMCA 2009
Practice Management Survey
How to Capitalize On A
Once-In-A-Lifetime Opportunity
Stephen A. Saenz
Advisor Sentiment
Question 1
To what extent do you agree with the following statements?
2%
4% 5%
2% 2%
5%
19% 20%
12%
29%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
I am surprised at the magnitude of dislocation we have seen in the financial markets
STRONGLY DISAGREE STRONGLY AGREE
1%
4%
7%
1%
4%
6%
8%
22%
20%
27%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
I am surprised at the magnitude of dislocation we have seen in the financial services industry
STRONGLY DISAGREE STRONGLY AGREE
12%
36%
23%
7%
4%
6%
4%
2% 1%
4%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Recent events have caused my clients to lose confidence in me
STRONGLY DISAGREE STRONGLY AGREE
10%
23%
11%
6%
7%
6%
10%
8%
6%
12%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Recent events have caused my clients to lose confidence in my firm
STRONGLY DISAGREE STRONGLY AGREE
5%
10%
8%
4%
18%
6%
19%
17%
5%
10%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
20%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Recent events have led me to question if the principles of modern portfolio theory and capital market assumptions still hold true
STRONGLY DISAGREE STRONGLY AGREE
5%
2%
5%
4%
19%
4%
15%
18%
8%
19%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
20%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Going forward, the financial markets will be better off as a result of going through this period of dislocation
STRONGLY DISAGREE STRONGLY AGREE
6%
7%
6%
5%
10% 10%
14%
16%
14%
12%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Going forward, the financial services industry will be better off as a result of going through this period of dislocation
STRONGLY DISAGREE STRONGLY AGREE
10%
4%
13%
15%
24%
14%
12%
6%
2%
0% 0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
When it comes to the financial markets, I am very optimistic about 2009
STRONGLY DISAGREE STRONGLY AGREE
1%
2% 2%
5%
6%
8%
18%
14%
23%
19%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Recent events have presented me with a significant opportunity to grow my business
STRONGLY DISAGREE STRONGLY AGREE
1%
2%
4%
5%
8%
11%
23%
14%
18%
13%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
I am confident that I know how to capitalize on that opportunity
STRONGLY DISAGREE STRONGLY AGREE
Recent Challenges
Question 2
How challenging have the following issues been for you during
the past six months?
0% 0%
4%
0%
4%
14%
17%
19% 19%
23%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Helping my clients deal with declining portfolio values
LEAST CHALLENGING MOST CHALLENGING
0%
5%
2%
4%
11%
21%
15%
12%
13%
15%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Preventing my clients from abandoning their investment plans
LEAST CHALLENGING MOST CHALLENGING
2%
6%
8%
10%
12%
13% 13%
16%
7%
11%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Deciding what changes to make in my clients’ portfolios
LEAST CHALLENGING MOST CHALLENGING
2%
13% 13%
7%
15%
8%
11%
14%
7%
5%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Getting my clients to act on my investment recommendations
LEAST CHALLENGING MOST CHALLENGING
7% 7%
17%
10%
8%
5%
15%
11%
10% 10%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Making sense of the underlying factors that led to recent events
LEAST CHALLENGING MOST CHALLENGING
8%
14%
10%
14%
5%
8%
17%
13%
4%
6%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Explaining to clients the underlying factors that led to recent events
LEAST CHALLENGING MOST CHALLENGING
7%
6%
11%
10%
11%
10%
2%
8%
11%
24%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Dealing with “headline risk” (bad news about your firm or the industry)
LEAST CHALLENGING MOST CHALLENGING
2%
4%
7% 7%
10%
12%
14%
15%
10%
18%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
20%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Managing my own stress
LEAST CHALLENGING MOST CHALLENGING
2%
7%
11%
8%
12% 12%
13%
8%
12%
7%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Helping my team members deal with stress
LEAST CHALLENGING MOST CHALLENGING
4%
11%
4%
5%
8%
12%
15%
18%
11%
12%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
20%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Dealing with the financial impact on my personal wealth
LEAST CHALLENGING MOST CHALLENGING
2%
7%
8%
10%
11%
13% 13%
19%
6%
10%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
20%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Maintaining a positive attitude
LEAST CHALLENGING MOST CHALLENGING
0%
11%
10%
7%
12%
11% 11%
16%
12%
5%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Helping my team maintain a positive attitude
LEAST CHALLENGING MOST CHALLENGING
Future Priorities
Question 3 Looking ahead to calendar year 2009,
how important are the following objectives to your business?
1% 0% 0%
1%
5% 6%
8%
12%
19%
46%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Significantly increasing net new assets
LEAST IMPORTANT MOST IMPORTANT
0% 0% 1%
4%
8%
12%
17% 17%
10%
31%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Rebuilding client confidence in the markets
LEAST IMPORTANT MOST IMPORTANT
5%
13% 13%
7%
17%
12%
8%
6%
7%
11%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Rebuilding my own confidence in the markets
LEAST IMPORTANT MOST IMPORTANT
5%
13%
8%
7%
17%
13%
11%
8%
5%
11%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Making adjustments to my investment philosophy
LEAST IMPORTANT MOST IMPORTANT
7%
12%
15%
7%
13%
10%
11%
8%
5%
10%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Making adjustments to my investment process
LEAST IMPORTANT MOST IMPORTANT
0% 0% 1%
5%
1%
5%
17% 18%
15%
37%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Rebuilding my clients’ wealth
LEAST IMPORTANT MOST IMPORTANT
4%
2%
8%
2%
10%
7%
17%
11%
13%
25%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Rebuilding my personal wealth
LEAST IMPORTANT MOST IMPORTANT
7%
6% 6%
5%
12%
15%
6%
11% 11%
13%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Fully adopting the wealth management business model
LEAST IMPORTANT MOST IMPORTANT
36%
11%
7%
0%
10%
5% 6%
2%
5%
12%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Bringing on a new partner(s)
LEAST IMPORTANT MOST IMPORTANT
37%
12%
6%
2%
6% 7% 7%
4%
7%
5%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Hiring additional staff
LEAST IMPORTANT MOST IMPORTANT
46%
22%
11%
8%
6%
7%
For 2009, what is your #1 business goal?
Increase assets/revenues/new clients
Maintain/Retain/Stregthen Client Relationship
Change business model/strategies/process
Strengthen Team/Marketing/Partners
Counset clients/Restore confidence
Education
30%
23% 15%
13%
8%
6%
6%
For 2009, what is the greatest challenges you face in your
business?
Client confidence / Stability of firm
Economic / Political expectations in the market
New business/Gathering new assets/loss of assets
Lack resources/firm limits/team changes/time mgmt
Own fear/uncertainty in mkts/firm
Staying with business model/process
Client communication/marketing
34%
23%
18%
9%
8%
5% 3%
What question would you like to have answered in future
surveys?
Business Model/Practices/Theories/Firms
Economy/Effects of Meltdown
Regulatory Envir/Industry Future/Corp Goverence
IMCA
Maintainging/Growing Business
Client's Looking for
Personal confidence/stress
STRONGLY DISAGREE STRONGLY AGREE
Future Plans
Question 7 How likely are you to take
the following actions in calendar year 2009?
82%
8% 7%
0% 1% 0% 0% 1% 0% 0% 0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Sell my investment advisory practice
LEAST LIKELY MOST LIKELY
56%
5%
10%
5%
11%
6% 6%
1% 0% 0%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Buy an investment advisory practice
LEAST LIKELY MOST LIKELY
59%
9% 7%
4%
10%
0%
4% 2%
0%
6%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Go out on my own
LEAST LIKELY MOST LIKELY
55%
10%
6%
2%
6% 5% 5%
4%
2%
5%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Change firms
LEAST LIKELY MOST LIKELY
77%
11%
6% 4%
2% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Change careers
LEAST LIKELY MOST LIKELY
89%
6%
2% 1% 1% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Retire
LEAST LIKELY MOST LIKELY
6%
12%
14%
14%
1%
6%
46%
Which of the following BEST describes the channel you
currently work in?
Bank Brokerage
Bank Trust Department
Independent Broker-Dealer
Independent RIA
Insurance Broker-Dealer
Regional Brokerage Firm
Wirehouse (incl merged or acquired)
5%
16%
14%
25%
25%
11%
4%
How long have you been a financial advisor?
Less than 5 years
6 – 10 years
11 – 15 years
16 – 20 years
21 – 25 years
26 – 30 years
More than 30 years
6%
20%
18%
56%
0%
Which of the following BEST describes what you do for
clients?
Financial Planning
Investment Advisory
Investment Management Consulting
Wealth Management Consulting
Run a Family Office