Financial advisors’ expectations are far from being met with respect to two-way communication with their dealer firms. In fact, advisors surveyed for this year’s Dealers’ Report Card said their firms have work to do regarding both how they disseminate important information to advisors and how willing they are to accept feedback from their advisors.
These communication-related issues are evident in the ratings advisors gave their firms in two key categories: “firm’s effectiveness in keeping advisors informed” and “firm’s receptiveness to advisor feedback.” In particular, there are notable differences between the performance ratings advisors bestowed on their firms and the importance ratings given to these categories. These so-called “satisfaction gaps” suggest that advisors’ expectations are not being met.
For example, the category regarding keeping advisors informed received an overall average performance rating of 8.0 but an overall importance rating of 8.6. More notable is the satisfaction gap in feedback receptiveness, which received an overall performance rating of 7.8 and an overall importance rating of 8.7 – one of the largest satisfaction gaps in this year’s Report Card.
In fact, advisors said there are multiple areas in which firms have work to do to be receptive. And one important area is who firms listen to for feedback: advisors said their dealers give more attention to those advisors with larger books of business.
In particular, advisors with Burlington, Ont.-based Manulife Securities say that firm has much work to do regarding taking feedback. The firm saw its rating in the receptiveness category plummet to 7.0 from 7.9 year-over-year. In addition, Manulife has the second-highest gap of all the firms between its 7.0 performance rating and the importance of the category to its advisors (8.6). Says a Manulife advisor in Ontario: “[Management] goes to the top 10 or 20 advisors for help, not to the average advisors. They should at least listen to our concerns.”
Advisors with Toronto-based Assante Wealth Management (Canada) Ltd., which also had a large satisfaction gap between its performance rating (8.1) and the importance rating (8.9) given by its advisors, express similar concerns. Says an Assante advisor in Ontario: “The firm’s receptiveness to feedback depends on the advisor and the size of his or her book.”
In turn, Assante has been working feverishly to get feedback by implementing councils focused on giving advisors a voice. And that may be the reason why the firm saw its rating in the category rise year-over-year to 8.1 from 7.5.
Assante has both a national and regional advisor councils, says Steve Donald, the firm’s president and CEO: “We meet with [the national council] semi-annually to talk about the firm’s strategic issues and our business, while [the regional councils] look at either more tactical initiatives within a practice or regional opportunities or issues.”
Lévis, Que.-based Desjardins Financial Security Independent Network has adopted a similar approach, but not all advisors agree its advisory councils serve their purpose. Says a Desjardins advisor in British Columbia: “Management has its own priorities. Even if we bring things to their attention, they won’t [act on it] until it’s critical.”
Advisors across the Report Card also had their fair share of concerns about their firms’ effectiveness in keeping advisors informed. In particular, advisors reported that the information shared by their dealers through e-newsletters and websites is not that relevant to their businesses.
For instance, advisors with Desjardins, which saw its rating in this category drop to 7.6 from 8.3 year-over-year, said there is considerable need for their firm to filter the information it sends out to advisors. Says a Desjardins advisor in Ontario: “[The firm] needs to quit sending us junk on marketing in the emails and focus on the important emails. They send us so much stuff that the newsletters lose value.”
A colleague in the same province has another request: “They could highlight things that are coming down the pipeline rather than what is already happening.”
Manulife advisors say their firm is facing similar issues. As a result, they rated their firm at 7.8 in the information category vs 7.9 last year. Says a Manulife advisor on the East Coast: “They try very hard, but a lot of their communication contains errors. They send emails with broken links and refer us to new marketing tools or forms that are not ready. It shows a lack of attention to detail.”
In contrast, Ottawa-based Independent Planning Group Inc. (IPG) appears to have communication figured out. Its advisors rated the firm highly in both its effectiveness in keeping advisors informed (8.9) and in its receptiveness to advisor feedback (8.8).
“[Management is] always accessible,” says an IPG advisor in Ontario, “and I always have the feeling it doesn’t matter what your book size is. The president has a friendly relationship with advisors. He calls me at least four times a year – and I know I’m not a big player in the big scheme of things.”
Vince Valenti, IPG’s president, says he thrives by keeping an open channel of communication with advisors: “I have a relationship with all the advisors. It would be really surprising if they didn’t pick up the phone and call me to speak or just to give me a shout.”
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