 |
Make sure our content is relevant to you. Vote now on Financial Services topics through Client Choice. If you don't see a topic of interest, we encourage you to write in your ideas for other topics.
This year's Finance Forum, on boosting your cross-sell success through great client experiences, will be at the Sheraton in midtown New York City on June 9 and 10. Be there or be square!
57: The percentage of US consumers who are willing to type in a password when entering their credit card number for increased security.
78: The percentage of Canadian nonadopters who would access their card online and give up paper statements if offered an annual $25 rebate.
|
|
|
The Sins Of Full-Service Brokerage Firms
Full-service brokerage firms continue their fall from grace.
Two previously untainted firms have just been implicated in scandals. A.G. Edwards was charged in Massachusetts for permitting market-timing. And Edward Jones was forced to disclose that it received millions from a few fund families for steering brokerage customers to its mutual funds.
How Can Tarnished Firms Absolve Themselves?
Among our eight simple rules for repairing a brokerage firm's damaged reputation: Use Web sites to make fees crystal clear and to offer real choice among mutual funds.
Why Web sites? Because they're much easier to change than an army of brokers. And make no mistake: full-service brokerage clients are as active online as clients of direct brokerages.
|
Yet for years, full-service firms like A.G. Edwards, Edward Jones, Morgan Stanley, and Wachovia Securities have treated their Web sites like redheaded stepchildren. As a result, full-service firms' customers are more likely to turn to third-party sites like Yahoo! Finance than to their brokerage's site.
Many also turn to direct brokerages. One-third of US brokerage customers now have an account at both a full-service and a direct firm. They tend to be younger -- and have higher incomes -- than investors who only use full-service firms are.
What Do Customers Want From Full-Service Brokerage Web Sites?
Our research shows that clients who use full-service sites value site features that support financial planning, such as portfolio trackers and asset allocation tools.
That's great news for firms with a financial planning heritage like American Express Financial Advisors (AEFA). We predict the spin-off of AEFA will free the firm to capitalize on its big opportunity: financial planning -- especially retirement planning -- for the mass affluent.
What Brokers Want From Their Technology
We've also surveyed hundreds of brokers and financial advisors about the technology they use. Most are satisfied. But there is one significant gap between expectations and the current state of workstation tools.
Brokers across the board are dissatisfied with lead management functionality. When we asked, "What would make you use your firm's broker workstation more often?," more than half told us that their contact management software needed to be better integrated with other applications.
Got Feedback?
I am interested in your feedback on our research. Do you have topics to recommend, data you need, or technologies you want assessed? Drop me a line at billdoyle@forrester.com so we can connect.
Bill Doyle
Financial Services Research Director
EMAIL: Email this issue to a colleague.
PRINT: View a printer-friendly version of this issue.
VIEW ARCHIVE: View past issues of First Look.
TECHNICAL SUPPORT: Call the Client Resource Center
1 866/FORRESTER (1 866/367-7378) or +1 617/613-5730.
EMAIL SUBSCRIPTIONS: If you'd like to subscribe or unsubscribe to First Look, please go to your Email Subscriptions page.
|
|
|
Entire contents 1997-2005, Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.
Forrester, Forrester Oval Program, Forrester Wave, ForrTel, Forrester's
Ultimate Consumer Panel, WholeView 2, Technographics, TechRankings, and
Total Economic Impact are trademarks of Forrester Research, Inc. All other
trademarks are the property of their respective companies. Forrester
clients may make one attributed copy or slide of each figure contained
herein. Additional reproduction is strictly prohibited. For additional
reproduction rights and usage information, go to www.forrester.com.
Information is based on best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment
at the time and are subject to change.
Forrester Research, Inc., 400 Technology Square, Cambridge, MA 02139
|
