Segment: Mutual Funds
Publication date: Thursday, February 25, 2010
# Pages: (27 pages)

Abstract | Table of Contents

Advisors looking to build their businesses can find great value in conducting seminars. This report looks at the resources available to help advisors plan and execute a seminar. Only 41% of firms in our coverage group offer these materials. We evaluated each of these firms’ offerings based on the following:

• Accessibility & Organization
• Client-Ready Support Materials
• Advisor Only Resources

Overall, we were disappointed with our findings. While three firms earned A’s, most received a C or lower, with one firm failing entirely. This is mostly due to the fact that firms did not provide a solid mix of both prospecting material and advisor guides.

Accessibility is an area that could use improvement. One firm hid its single document in an unrelated portion of the site, while another buried its materials in a poorly-labeled page three levels deep. Two firms made their materials accessible only via the literature order system.

Client-ready prospecting material types varied in this report. Seventy-one percent of firms provide an invitation, while newspaper ads were the second most popular offering. Two firms offered a sign-in sheet, while two others included thank-you letters.

Seventy-one percent of firms in this report provide advisors with guides to help plan seminars. These firms generally offer the same type of guidance, all offering information on how to choose a topic and a corresponding investor segment to target. Four of these firms offer information on choosing a location and provide a preparation checklist, while three others provide seminar promotion ideas, delivery tips and suggestions for following up.

Subjects

Financial Planning, Marketing, cross-selling

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