Research for Investment Executive’s 2022 Report Card on Banks (RCB) was conducted by six research journalists: Laurent Bouthillier, Brian Capitao, Joseph Eskander, Emily Fox, Roland Inacay and Alisha Mughal. The researchers interviewed 241 financial planners and advisors by phone between April 1 and May 9. Sample sizes for the RCB have decreased since the onset of the pandemic.
The respondents were all branch-based employees with the Big Six banks’ retail divisions who focus on selling investment products and managing clients. Advisors with the Bank of Nova Scotia, unlike other survey respondents, serve assigned groups of clients out of a collective base and could not provide individual book data.
Advisors had to be registered to sell mutual funds, and were asked to provide ratings only for the services with which they had direct experience. They also had to have worked with their bank for at least one year, and have been in the industry for three or more.
Across 29 categories, advisors were asked how they felt about the support services and programs offered by their banks. Participants provided two ratings — one for performance and one for importance — on a scale of zero to 10 for each category (excluding the IE rating and Net Promoter Score).
As part of ongoing efforts to improve the research, the “Ethics” category was removed. The term “remote work” was added to the former “support for mobile technology & the mobile advisor” category, reflecting the new hybrid work reality. A new category, “diversity, equity & inclusion policies,” was added.
The two supplementary questions for 2022, designed to gain insight on industry trends, asked respondents to rate how difficult they’re finding it to adhere to the client-focused reforms, and which issues are most prevalent for their senior and vulnerable clients.