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How Audit Ready Is Your Incentive Compensation Program?
Audit Ready Incentive Compensation The increasing cost of compliance and oversight – in time and money – is something investment services firms face every day. From internal audits that scrutinize our processes to regulatory bodies like FINRA and the SEC that scour...
How to Leverage Revenue Tracking Data to Drive Growth
Effective Revenue Tracking Revenue tracking and reporting tools help monitor and measure the performance of the entire sales organization, from lead to booked revenue. Investment services firms can leverage revenue tracking data to optimize business strategy and drive...
Key Factors to Consider When Evaluating a Financial Technology System
Implementing a Financial Technology System A frequent topic of conversation we have with investment services firms is the importance of implementing a financial technology system. As firms grow, they soon realize that manual processes and managing disparate data...
Tips for Effective Investment Program Management
Bank Investment Programs Investment programs continue to provide tremendous value to the financial institution (bank or credit union). Studies have shown that households that own investments through their primary bank or credit union are among the most profitable for...
5 Ways To Attract and Retain Millennial Advisors
Millennial Advisors More than one-in-three American labor force participants (35%) are millennials, making them the largest generation in the U.S. labor force, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. Research shows that only about 25%...
Financial Asset Management Compliance
Asset Management Compliance One of our clients came to us with a problem; how to comply with FINRA's customer asset transmit rules for managed money and mutual funds. Our solution: an asset management workflow for tracking, monitoring, and reporting on the location...
5 Reasons Why You Should Reassess Your Dependency on Spreadsheets
Spreadsheet Dependency Dependency on spreadsheets exposes an investment services firm to risk, especially when they rely on spreadsheets for their business-critical functions (such as managing their incentive compensation program). If spreadsheets play an integral...
How to Decrease Operational Risk with Incentive Compensation Management Technology
Operational Risk It's important to understand the operational risks caused by manual processes used within your incentive compensation procedures. Managing and leading an investment services firm is an enormous responsibility. Top challenges include: Growing the...
Interactive Data Chart Compares Financial Advisor Payout Rates
Our free interactive data chart shows the percentage of revenue that advisors make at different production levels, based on data from the Kehrer Bielan 2018 Advisor Compensation Study. We’ve created this interactive data chart to help you pull valuable insights for...
Eliminate Shadow Accounting with Incentive Compensation Management
How much time does your advisor team waste on shadow accounting? In the world of incentive compensation, shadow accounting is the process in which a salesperson tracks their production separately, creating and maintaining a parallel record so that they can...
How to Prevent Single Points of Failure In Your Incentive Compensation Program
Single Points of Failure Do any of these sound familiar? “We better not lose John, or we won’t be able to pay our advisors for weeks.” “No one can cover for Jane, and no one wants to learn pivot tables.” “John plans his vacation around month-end closing.” If so, then...
3 Reasons Investment Services Firms Should Outsource Technology
In-house Vs. Outsourcing Like many businesses, investment services firms frequently debate building technology in-house vs. outsourcing. There are hidden costs and challenges with building in-house systems. An infrastructure in which systems can talk to each other and...
Key Trends in Advisor Compensation Planning
As need for new talent grows more competitive, investment firms need to keep up with financial advisor compensation trends. The need to remain competitive is important for numerous reasons, but perhaps one of the most critical reasons is due to the growing talent...
4 Ways to Improve Your Firm’s Month-end Close Process
Improving the Monthly Closing Process The month-end close process for broker-dealers is anything but simple. Intricate commissions and incentive compensation plans, plus regulatory oversight add to the already complicated, tedious process. Poorly executed procedures...
FINRA Compliance. Is Your Firm Prepared for its Routine Examination?
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) regulates 3,700 member firms and nearly 630,000 registered reps and conducts over 2000 member firm examinations each year. FINRA conducts routine examinations of broker-dealers checking for compliance with industry...
Plan for Success: Advisor Compensation Research
The latest in Advisor Compensation Research As advisor compensation models continue to evolve it's critical to stay abreast of the current trends. The Kehrer Bielan 2018 Advisor Compensation Study consists of an analysis of trends in the structure and payouts for...
Talent Retention: 5 Best Practices to Retain Top-performing Advisors
Talent retention remains a significant challenge for investment firms — some lose a financial advisor as soon as a new one is recruited. By focusing on advisor engagement and satisfaction, firms can prevent their top-performing advisors from jumping ship to another...
3 Reasons to Focus on Financial Advisor Job Satisfaction
Discover How Satisfied and Engaged Financial Advisors Will Boost Your Firm’s Bottom Line Numerous studies show that an engaged workforce translates to a higher bottom line. This is no different for financial advisors — sales performance management is more than...