AIM Trimark leads U.S. firms in Internet services for advisors

AIM Trimark Investments led a group of 20 U.S. firms in answering advisor needs online, and in innovative methods of driving advisors to their Web sites, according to new research from financial services consulting firm Pyramid.

Pyramid conducted Benchmarking Internet Servicing of Advisors in the U.S., and completed a Canadian supplement to the report which included Canadian companies affiliated with U.S. participants.

AIM Trimark, the Canadian subsidiary of Amvescap plc, scored above all U.S. firms. OppenheimerFunds ranked number one in the U.S., while AIM (the U.S. subsidiary of Amvescap), Franklin Templeton, and Wells Fargo Advantage Funds ranked second, third and fourth, respectively in the U.S.

Pyramid notes that Canadian Web sites generally include some services that are requested by advisors in the U.S., but are offered by few U.S. companies because they provide information on products other than their own, or involve documents that will not have their branding.

One example is the open architecture hypothetical/proposal generator, which is used more frequently as a value-added service in Canada than in the U.S. The majority of U.S. firms allow advisors to select only their own funds in hypotheticals/proposal generators, while a number of Canadian firms enable advisors to select from the entire universe of funds.

Offering advisors ghost-written articles is another example of a service which is offered more frequently by firms in Canada than in the U.S. Advisors can brand the articles with their own name and firm, and send to clients or publish in local newspapers. Ghostwritten articles are rarely offered by U.S. firms.

Getting advisors to register on the advisor Web site, and continue to visit it, are challenges for all firms.

Pyramid says AIM Trimark uses a few creative methods to drive advisors to their Web site:

• Web Rewards Program that provides points for visits to particular content – with points redeemable for gifts.
• Desktop software for investment and financial planning provided free-of-charge – and downloads must be done from the Web site.
• The capability for advisors to email risk tolerance worksheets direct to clients for use with the hypothetical/proposal generator. Clients complete the worksheets online, and the advisor is notified by email when the assessment is complete. The advisor must log in to the Web site to view the risk assessment and integrate it into a proposal.
  
  Twenty U.S. companies participated in the U.S. study. Four Canadian companies affiliated with U.S. participants participated in the Canada report, including:
  AIM Trimark; Capital International (affiliated with American Funds);Fidelity; and Franklin Templeton.
  
  Pyramid, based in Forest Hills, New York, is a research firm that supports financial services companies in combining strategy and technology to improve the customers’ experience.