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Advisors surveyed in Investment Executive’s 2007 Account Managers’ Report Card are a dissatisfied bunch, it seems. Scores dropped at virtually every bank and credit union in the rankings. In the end, Royal Bank of Canada, TD Canada Trust and Bank of Nova Scotia emerged as front-runners — but not without taking hits in at least a few categories.

Yet, despite a general drop in scores, advisors still hold the same values dear when it comes to what they find most important. With an overall importance score of 9.5, ethics once again made it to the top of the list of what advisors value most. (Please see table on page 18.)

“One of the best aspects that our firm has to offer is the ethical reputation of the company,” says an advisor at Vancouver-based Vancity Credit Union.

Freedom to make objective product choices and the firm’s delivery on promises closely followed, with both categories scoring 9.4 in overall importance.

Not surprising, the firms that delivered in the categories most valued by advisors also scored the highest overall.

Royal Bank, which garnered top scores in two of the three most important categories, bumped up its overall score to 8.6 from 8.5 last year. Remaining product-neutral and staying focused on clients’ needs gives the bank a leg up in providing advisors with the freedom they so highly value, says Karen Svendsen, director of sales and strategy for RBC Investments in Toronto.

“We do what’s right for the client, and I think the path we’ve been on with our Client First program has shifted the thinking throughout the organization,” says Svendsen. “That cultural change has made the employees feel much more empowered to do what’s right.”

Scotiabank held on to its top-three position despite a noticeable drop in several categories, including back office, compensation, compliance and delivery on promises. Still, with an overall score of 8.4, Scotiabank advisors are clearly satisfied in general.

Wendy Hannam, executive vice president of domestic personal banking and distribution for Scotiabank in Toronto, says obtaining feedback is a crucial tool in keeping advisors happy. Through both individual coaching sessions and an internal feedback mechanism, Scotiabank advisors are encouraged to tell their managers what they think. Executives also take the time to conduct round-table sessions to hear what advi-sors are saying about the bank and how they feel about the product offerings, Hannam says.

“It is extremely important to us that our employees find Scotiabank to be a great place to work,” she says. “We have a very team-oriented culture; there is a sense of wanting to operate as a team.”

Bank of Montreal is also taking the initiative in obtaining advisor feedback to make sure the bank is heading in the right direction.

“We are always seeking feedback from financial planners, and I spend a great deal of time going out into the field and listening to unfiltered feedback directly,” says Jim Lund, national program director of the Toronto-based bank’s investment solutions network.

BMO has the distinction of being completely impartial when it comes to recommending or selling products, Lund says.
“Our advisors can look a client in the eye and say, ‘In case you’re wondering, it doesn’t matter what we do here today because I will be paid the same’,” he says.

That objectivity is paying off: BMO advisors rated their freedom to make objective product choices a 9.5, the highest score across the board.

Montreal-based National Bank of Canada is another firm to see an overall increase in its score this year to 7.9 overall. Although it wasn’t a top performer among the banks, it did see an increase in its scores in several categories — most notably in advertising and branch management. While National Bank has a long way to go before it catches up with the top-rated banks, its advisors are certainly more optimistic than last year.

“It is committed to employees, in terms of compensation. It desires feedback, and management is loyal and dedicated,” says a National Bank advisor in Ontario.

But all the financial institutions in this year’s survey also took a lot of criticism. Back office scores took the biggest beating this year, with overall average scores dropping to 7.2 from 8.1 last year. Scores were also down this year in advertising, compliance and ongoing training, the last of which may have been negatively impacted by the advent of online training, which some advisors feel is robbing them of face-to-face interaction.

@page_break@Even the credit unions — traditionally among the highest-scoring financial institutions in the survey — weren’t safe from lagging scores. In fact, both Coast Capital Savings Credit Union, based in Vancouver, and Vancity saw a considerable plunge in overall scores. Together with CIBC, they round out the bottom three firms in this year’s Report Card.

Branch management, strategic focus, firm stability and ongoing training appear to be the most contentious issues at the credit unions, and advisors handed out lower ratings accordingly.

So, what went wrong? At Coast Capital, implementing change appears to be the culprit. The credit union recently established a new reporting structure in which advi-sors now report to a sales manager who specializes in investments, not a branch manager. The change in the reporting line has left some advisors feeling uneasy about the direction their credit union is taking.

“It is heading in all sorts of different directions, trying to find its niche,” says a Coast Capital advi-sor in B.C. “It is not sure [what] it is yet — and I find it confusing.”

That perception may well have created a domino effect in other categories.

Sue Miller, Coast Capital’s sales manager of investment services, says the change may also have caused cold feet among advi-sors who are worried about further changes. “Every time there’s change, people get nervous,” she says. “It will just take some time for people to realize that this new reporting structure is a much better way to go about things.”

Advisors at Vancity also voiced their frustrations with its business strategies and complained that training is geared toward incoming advisors, not those who have been with the credit union for years.

“I’m disappointed with the leadership,” says a Vancity advisor in Vancouver. “They’re well behind the competition. They’ve had their eyes shut for the past five years and now they’re paying the price. The revenue stream isn’t diversified; it’s all banking and lending. And they’ve finally realized there’s a lot of money in wealth management.”

Vancity is relatively new in the wealth-management department, only formalizing its wealth-management strategy three years ago. As a result, it’s placing a strong emphasis on restructuring its training program this year, says Steve Eccles, Vancity’s vice president of investments. The credit union hopes to bring another 50 employees on board within the next 18 months.

“What we need to do is put some tangible differentiations into the investment sales process and link them closely to what Vancity means to our members,” Eccles says. “Customers come to Vancity for a reason, and part of that reason is because it’s strong in the community and it links heavily on service.”

By establishing a sales experience training program, Eccles says, the credit union hopes to evolve from its traditional banking environment to a more relevant “reaching out and looking to draw in business” environment. IE