five ways advisors can use wholesalers to get to their own retirement - wealth channel winter 2011

8/3/2019 Five Ways Advisors Can Use Wholesalers to Get to Their Own Retirement - Wealth Channel Winter 2011

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retirement

wont go awayStrategies you and yourclients cant ignore

PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN COLLEGEmagazinmagazinFall | 2011


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78 | The American College | FALL 2011

practice management

Five Ways Advisors Can Use Wholesalers

to Get to Their Own Retirementby Robert Shore

> Ways wholesalers can help make your journey to retirement smooth sailing

This past July, SunAmerica, in collaboration with

Age Wave, released a study entitled Retirement Re-

set that looked at the views o Americans and their

retirement post-recession. The ollowing statement

appeared on the ocial Retirement Reset website(retirementreset.com):

Americans have emerged rom the economic re-

cession with a new set o expectations around the

purpose, timing and unding o their retirement.

Not only is retirement being postponed, but it no

longer means an end to workingretirement is

now a new chapter in lie.

Among the study ndings:

Almost two-thirds o those surveyed say they

would ideally like to remain productive and

include work in retirement.

85 percent say they now appreciate the

importance o quality relationships with

their riends and amily even more ater the

recession.

Financial peace o mind is now six times

more important than accumulating wealth;

82 percent name it their key nancial goal.

So, are the retirement expectations o the prac-

titioners in the nancial services community any

dierent than those o the clients they serve? Howcan advisors use the services o product partners

and their wholesalers to navigate their own journey

through retirement, however they choose to dene

it?

Here are ve ways to ensure that your retirement

vision becomes your reality by using the resources

o your product partners, and their wholesalers,

most eectively:

formmeaningfulpartnershipsWholesalers, like advisors, are charged with running

a protable business. This means they need to keep

a keen eye on the time they commit and the dollars

they spend vs. the assets that they raise. When advi-

sors make requests that involve wholesaler time or

budget money, the numbers need to add up.

For example, i you are using the Foonman Small

Cap Arica Utility Fund and have pledged your sup-

port to the Foonman wholesaler, the natural ques-

tion becomes how much money can you ever raise

in a niche product such as thisperhaps 1 percent

to 2 percent o your overall allocation? Conversely,

i you have committed your support to the Foon-

man wholesaler or the Foonman Mega Cap 100, a

und that might get 10+ percent o your fows, you

should expect a more meaningul level o support.

Choose a nite number o product providers

(subject to periodic perormance review) and pledge

your support. In return youll receive access to the

nancial, intellectual and marketing resources o

those rms.

understandthewholesalersuniquevalueOne o our clients is a client acquisition specialist.

He prides himsel on his ability to meet jointly withadvisors and clients to close sales. Another client is a

practice management expert who eatures her abil-

ity to help advisors convert their books o business

rom commission to ees. Still another client has a

burning passion or assisting advisors with portolio

construction and, as a CFA and ormer portolio

manager, is well qualied to have those discussions.

Robert Shore

Rob is the CEO oshorespeak, LLC andWholesalerMasterminds.com.He coaches fnancialservices distributionproessionals andpublishes I CarryThe Bagtheofcial magazine owholesaling.

[email protected]


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FALL 2011 | The Wealth Channel Magazine | 79

What is the unique value that your wholesaler brings to

your practice? Are you leveraging that ability to your frms

greatest beneft?

cooperativelyplanbusinessWe coach our wholesaler clients to have signifcantly meaning-

ul business planning sessions with their top tier o advisors at

least annually. For those sessions to be most productive the

fnancial advisor needs to transparently share his or her an-

nual business plan. Doing so allows or a detailed discussion

about the advisors plans or, and the wholesalers support o,

the ollowing:

New business development activities

Marketing programs

Existing client events

Educational opportunities

These discussions must include production objectives that

the advisor has set or his or her practice. Without the knowl-

edge o the empirical opportunity, the wholesaler has no base-line to gauge the ongoing health o the partnership.

conductquarterlycheckpointsessionsI you have any employees in your practice, you know the im-

portance o checkpoint meetings. These are the quarterly, per-

haps semi-annual, occasions where employees have a sit down

with their boss and review the goals that were outlined in the

last annual review. These meetings provide an opportunity, in

a less ormal setting, to discuss whats going right and where

improvements can be made.

Do you have these checkpoint meetings with your whole-

salers? These discussions should cover, at a minimum, these

six issues:

Contact frequency Are the wholesaler and their

internal partner oering too much or too little contact

with you and your team members?

Product selection How are the products that youre

using rom the wholesalers frm working so ar?

Are there changes that theyd recommend based on

perormance or upcoming product changes?

Event planning What progress are you making

with the client events that you jointly discussed in

the annual business plan? Is there a cost update or

renegotiation that needs to happen?

Referrals Advisors love reerrals, and so do

wholesalers. This is a great setting or the wholesaler

to ask or recommendations o like-minded advisors

who would be interested in the business consulting andproduct solutions that the wholesaler oers.

Threats Are you being tempted by another suitor

(a.k.a. another wholesaler)? This meeting presents a

great time, in the spirit o partnership, to discuss whats

tempting you.

Production Checkpoint meetings provide the right

opportunity or the wholesaler to review where you

stand in production versus the commitments made at

the beginning o the year.

askforwhatyouwantAmong the many superpowers wholesalers possess, mind read-

ing is not one. As a result, you should be clear about what their

expectations o wholesaling partners are.

I you dont like internal wholesalers to call and thank you

or your business, let them know. I you have an aversion to

wholesalers dropping in to leave sales ideas, let them know. I

you preer your wholesaler visit you every third Thursday o a

quarter, let them know.

As with any relationship in our lives, communication is

criticaland wholesalers are working overtime to orm a great

relationship with you. Whether your plan or retirement rom the business o

oering fnancial guidance to clients has more traditional

trappings (such as selling the practice and sailing o into the

sunset) or you are committed to the longest o long hauls, un-

derstanding the best ways to utilize the services o your proes-

sional product wholesaler will make that path to a proftable

retirement a more rewarding journey.

As with any relationship in our lives, communication iscriticaland wholesalers are working overtime to form

a great relationship with you.

five ways advisors can use wholesalers to get to their own retirement - wealth channel winter 2011

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