Big banks score big on products: Includes Chart

“We have a strong mutual fund family,” says a Royal Bank advisor in Ontario.

Royal Bank divides its retail investment advisory staff into three categories: junior account managers, senior account managers and financial planners. Although only the last group has access to third-party products, the bank’s advisors still ranked their firm highly in terms of freedom to make objective product choices.

That’s because Royal Bank doesn’t offer incentives to sell in-house products over third-party products, says Karen Svendsen, director of sales and strategy with RBC Investments.

But several Royal Bank advisors did grumble about the time it takes the bank to introduce new products compared with its peers. “We’re always behind the eight ball in bringing products to market,” says a Royal Bank advisor in Ontario. “We’re a follower in that respect, not a leader.”

Bank of Montreal ranked among the leaders in terms of quality of products and scored highest (9.5) in the survey in terms of freedom to make objective product choices.

“I’m able to offer the best solutions to our clients,” says a BMO planner in the Maritimes.

BMO advisor compensation remains the same whether a client is sold a product through the bank or is referred to the bank’s private-client arm, the wealth-management arm or the direct-brokerage arm, says Jim Lund, national program director of the bank’s investment solutions network in Toronto: “There are no additional incentives [for the advisors] to favour BMO products.”

BMO advisors can sell the bank’s in-house funds and about 30 third-party funds, including funds from the Guardian Group of Funds Ltd. family, a BMO asset-management subsidiary, Lund says.

But some advisors would like access to more third-party options. “There isn’t enough at my disposal at the branch to offer clients,” says a BMO advisor in Ontario.

TD Canada Trust advisors scored their bank just above the category average in freedom to make objective product choices, but among the leaders in quality of product.

“Our funds are usually in the top quartile, so you feel you’re running with the leader of the pack,” says an advisor in Ontario.

TD Canada Trust advisors are limited to in-house mutual funds and do not sell third-party funds. But they do have access to third-party funds through TD Fundsmart managed-portfolio products.

At the other end of the table, CIBC scored lowest among the banks in quality of products, and below the category average in freedom to make objective product choices.

Comments from CIBC advi-sors about their bank’s products, which ranged from negative to positive and sometimes appeared contradictory, suggest the relatively low scores may be attributable to frustration with management and recent negative newspaper headlines about the bank.

“It needs stronger leadership at the strategic level, the head-office level, the corporate level and right down to the day-to-day level,” says a CIBC banker on the Prairies.

“Any time the bank is in the news, there’s a lot of investor emotion,” says a CIBC advisor in Ontario.

Coast Capital Savings Credit Union, based in Vancouver, scored lowest among the firms surveyed in freedom to make objective product choices with a 7.9.

“We’re always dissatisfied when it comes to freedom,” says a Coast Capital advisor in British Columbia.

“They have taken away so many of our products, we’re limited,” adds a colleague.

Coast Capital, which does not have in-house funds, has been reducing the number of its key third-party suppliers to streamline things for advisors and clients, says Sue Miller, sales manager of investment services.

The credit union has also been encouraging advisors to sell wrap accounts, which streamline things further. “They’re more efficient and the balancing is taken care of by the fund companies,” says Miller.

Some Coast Capital advisors say they have been advised to place 60% of their assets under management in wrap accounts, but Miller says that number is an internal misunderstanding; no set quota has been established. “Do we want to sell wraps and make that a huge part of our business? Absolutely,” she says. “Is there a number that advisors are mandated to sell? No, there is not.”

Vancity Credit Union, also based in Van-couver, scored high (9.1) in terms of freedom to make objective product choices — its advisors can offer clients a multitude of third-party funds — but posted the lowest score (7.8) on product quality.

Vancity introduced five new proprietary funds in late January called Vancity Circadian Mutual Funds, which adhere to a socially responsible investing mandate. Some Vancity advisors say they haven’t received adequate support for the new funds.

“It’s a great product, but they shot themselves in the foot because there’s no training,” says one Vancity advisor.

Steve Eccles, Vancity’s vice president of investments, acknowledges that the new product lineup was introduced at the height of RRSP season, and training and marketing was lost in the seasonal noise.

He adds that a lineup of proprietary products is uncharted territory for Vancity advisors, who until now have sold only third-party funds. There are no incentives to sell the in-house funds over third-party products, he says.

Still, the launch of the Circadian funds exceeded internal sales targets, says Eccles, who is optimistic the goodwill of the Vancity brand will translate into client interest. IE