Whether they call themselves account managers, advisors, financial planners or personal banking officers, the bank and credit union employees Investment Executive surveyed for this year’s Account Managers’ Report Card are a happy bunch.
Sure, they hate working Saturdays, but bank referrals and brand recognition go a long way to make up for a missed day at the cottage.
“We have an excellent referral base to work off of and we’re highly regarded in the community,” says an account manager with Royal Bank of Canada in Ontario.
Such satisfaction breeds longevity. “I’ve been here for 35 years and I still like my job,” says a TD Canada Trust employee, also from Ontario. “That’s got to say something.”
It certainly does. For the first time since 2001 — after spending three years in fourth place following the merger — TD has taken top spot in this year’s Account Managers’ Report Card with a score of 8.3, nudging out two-time champion Bank of Nova Scotia.
Royal Bank rounds out the top three.
This reshuffle of the top ranks hasn’t affected CIBC, however. It hasn’t budged from bottom place, and its overall rating has even slipped 0.3 points from 2004.
When it comes to defining an account manager, there are myriad job titles among the financial institutions we surveyed.
Advisors working at Royal Bank branches, for example, fall into three categories:
personal bankers, who are not assigned specific clients but deal with walk-ins who want to take out a loan or open an RRSP; account managers, who have specific
clients but tend to work with younger clients with more credit needs; and financial planners, who have a financial planning designation and the ability to sell third-party funds.
“What we’re trying to do is make sure we can create roles in which people can stay with the same set of clients for longer periods of time,” says Anne Lockie, head of sales for personal and business clients at RBC Financial Group in Toronto.
Scotiabank calls its bankers financial advisors and they hold either a PFP or CFP designation, while account managers at Credential Financial Inc. — the wealth management arm of Canada’s credit unions — are mutual fund-licensed “at a bare minimum,” says Vancouver-based Credential president and CEO Don Rolfe.
Most advisors we surveyed deal with both sides of the balance sheet — and like it that way. “I can provide holistic financial planning, including loans and mortgages,” says one East Coast CIBC advisor.
No matter what job title appears on their business cards, account managers agree that ethics, stability and image — along with the legal and compliance departments and the firm’s ability to keep promises — are the most important aspects. And, for the most part, firms are doing well in these categories. But advisors tell us that when it comes to sales support and technology, there’s plenty of room for improvement.
Royal Bank advisors gave their third-place firm a last-place score for sales support.
“The tools we’re provided with to do our jobs are very poor,” says an account manager from Ontario.
Lockie begs to differ. “We provide our people with a lot,” she says.
Royal Bank advisors receive lead lists and are alerted to major changes in clients’ account balances and to products coming up for renewal. The bank also helps some advisors build business by pairing them with mortgage specialists. “The mortgage specialist will go and get a new client with a mortgage, and then anchor them with an account manager,” says Lockie.
Bank of Montreal and CIBC are also faltering on the support. “We don’t have any sales support, and that’s the standard,” says a BMO advisor from Ontario.
These industry laggards should take a page from TD’s book. The firm took top place for support with a score of 8.1, more than a full point ahead of the industry average. “TD is interested in helping us grow, and it provides the tools that we need,” says a manager from Ottawa. “The support we have is the best aspect of this firm,” seconds a southern Ontario manager.
National Bank of Canada and Scotiabank are also on track. “We provide central prospecting and central leads from our data warehouse,” says Wendy Hannam,
executive vice president of domestic branch banking at Scotiabank in Toronto. The firm also lends a helping hand with local marketing. “We assist with putting together presentations, brochures and anything else they may want.”
@page_break@When it comes to back-office technology, it appears that all firms are in need of an upgrade. There’s a four-way tie among TD, Scotiabank, Royal Bank and the credit unions for first place, but that top score is a mediocre 7.1. “The back-office functions are bad,” says an account manager at a Nova Scotia credit union.
“Typically, the back office is either ISM or ADP,” says Rolfe, who notes Credential uses ADP Brokerage Services Group-owned Dataphile. “There’s not a lot of choice in the marketplace.”
CIBC advisors rank their back office as the worst. “We’re lacking in technological advancement,” says a CIBC advisor from Ontario. Other CIBC reps describe the back office as “slow” and just plain “bad.”
Grades for front-office technology are a little more generous. Royal Bank takes top spot with a score of 7.5, but that doesn’t mean there is nothing to complain about. “Our front-office technology is pieced together from a number of older applications,” says an Alberta manager. “There’s no user-friendly interface.”
National Bank’s front-office technology sits at the bottom of the heap with a grade of 5.9. “Imagine not having e-mail and Internet
access at your own desk,” says one irritated National Bank account manager from Ontario. “The Ontario branches lag way behind the Quebec ones for technology.”
But while their reps gripe about technology, some execs say their offerings are more than adequate. “Everybody always wants more,” says Royal Bank’s Lockie. “But I think our technology, from a sales platform perspective, is pretty darn good.”
Royal Bank revamped its sales platform in 2003, and recently unveiled two new advisor tools: a retirement tool that can be used separately from a financial plan, and a cash-flow model for people living on a fixed income. “We usually aim to upgrade two or three tools a year,” says Lockie.
Scotiabank is also set to launch two advisor tools this year. Portfolio Analyzer, a mutual fund analysis tool, will make its début this summer, while a financial plan-based selling tool called Blueprint will be unveiled in September. “Both are completely geared toward customer needs and finding the right solution,” says Hannam.
Aside from the nuts and bolts of sales support and technology, corporate culture and a commitment to work/life balance are two less tangible — but much talked about — touchstones of advisor happiness.
Advisors from BMO, TD and the credit unions commend their firms’ commitment to work/life balance, while Scotiabankers salute the bank’s culture. “[The bank is] people-focused, from customers to advisors,” says one satisfied Scotiabanker from Ontario. Another East Coast Scotiabank advisor says the bank’s “team spirit” is its best aspect.
That spirit is sorely lacking at CIBC. The bank just can’t shake claims of micromanagement and sales pressure, which its managers cited most often as CIBC’s worst aspects. “They are constantly looking over our shoulders,” says an Ontario advisor.
Upper management instability also continues to plague the bank. “There are too many management changes,” says an account manager in British Columbia. The latest internal shuffle saw the departure of five of the bank’s top brass in June, including Gerrard Smith, executive vice president and COO, and Kenn Lalonde, executive vice president of branch and small-business banking. At the same time, executive vice president of private wealth management and Imperial Service Steve McNair retired.
On the bright side, one B.C. account manager says the bank — at the very least — makes it easy to move firms: “It has that right, and I assume it’s from practice.” IE