New Clients? First, Form ADV Part 2

“Closed to new clients. Please take your business elsewhere.”

In effect, that is a sign many RIAs will put on the door if they fail to file their new Form ADV Part 2 A brochures by March 31.

The advisors most affected are those with fiscal years ending 12/31/11. Those advisors have until 5/31/11 to make the piece available to current clients.

“Whenever possible, I’ve directed advisors to resources and experts in the DBJ Associates (DBJ) network,” said Bruce Johnston recently. Founder and president of DBJ, Bruce blogs on the Form ADV Part 2 subject at RIA Marketplace http://tinyurl.com/4kpvs2u .

“The pressure is on. Many advisors just haven’t focused on this – especially since its tax season,” he continued. “That’s why I’ve assembled a team of plain language writers to help meet increasing demand as the deadline draws closer.”

Called the “Form ADV Part 2 Survival Kit,” the service will offer content delivery for both the new ADV Part 2A and 2B. “The new Form ADV  Part 2 is really different from the old ADV Part II,” Bruce added, “and a lot of professionals, who are do-it-yourselfers, are finding that they can’t do this for themselves.”

For $2500, the Survival Kit will provide advisors with the complete electronic filings they need to stay compliant. “After a brief discovery conversation and document request, we go right to a first plain English draft,” he said. “We anticipate turnaround times of between three and five days.”

Advisors in a hurry can contact DBJ Associates at 405.381.9390 or by sending an email to bruce@dbjassociates.com

By John C. Drachman

Will money managers soon be showing their customers more love?

According to D. Bruce Johnston, due to pressures from outside the industry, most notably from banks, the answer is a resounding “yes.”

Loud and clear: customers want attention

“As the customer service benchmark is being raised outside of the industry, money managers too will find themselves held to a higher standard by investors and advisors,” added the president of DBJ Associates.

Banks have raised customer service bar

Johnston sees part of the pressure coming from the rise of mobile technology, especially  iPads, which “are conditioning people to expect instant access to information 24/7.”

According to Johnston, such initiatives are not unknown in investment distribution. “It’s something asset managers have been trying to teach through value-add programs — to be more sensitive to the clients’ needs,” he said in a recent Hannah Glover article for Ignites. “It’s time for asset managers to apply the same standards to both advisors and investors,” he added.

Johnston, co-author of Introduction to Social Media with R. Jeffrey Young of Huntington Asset Services, added that “As firms study and adapt to the new world of enhanced customer service, they should not overlook creative and cost-efficient solutions that are close at hand.”

Johnston concluded that social media blogs and networks offer financial marketers a convenient and inexpensive way to provide more service-oriented communications to customers.

By John C. Drachman

From Sugar Land, Texas to Atlanta, Georgia, financial advisors like Curtis A. Smith and Russ Thornton are finding that attracting new business in cyberspace can be as carefree and neighborly as Facebooking friends about the local sports team.

FAs Are Making a Bigger Splash with Social Media

Advisolocity President and CEO, D. Bruce Johnston interviewed the two professionals recently for a BrightTalk webinar on “Linking Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to Maximize Business Growth.”

The two said they have attracted new business to their firms by successfully building out their local presence with social media over the past two years.

For Curtis, the stated goal in the beginning was to achieve a #1 Google page presence for his products and services in the Sugar Land Texas region. “I found that Facebook friending in my community was very important,” he said. By knowing more about a prospect’s background, interests and hobbies, he has been able to achieve more relationship depth faster, he added.

Russ Thornton said, “Social media helps you better identify the people you should be talking to. It also provides you with more information about them to better prepare for a meeting.”

“However,” he added, “It’s important to remember you can’t just stay online. I believe strongly in getting out in the community and meeting people.”

Making client contacts outside of a community is possible, Russ noted, “as long as your client has some flexibility as to how much of their business can be conducted over the phone and online.”

To Bruce’s question about how important maintaining a structured marketing plan was to their efforts, Curtis said, “I don’t need a big, elaborate marketing plan. Social media levels the playing field and creates your presence just by you using it.”

Russ added, “It’s hard to know where to spend your time and money. Social media is proving to be the low cost dynamic way to put yourself out there and raise your profile.”

What about industry colleagues who are not ready to try social media? “They are making a big mistake,” Curtis said.

IPads are popping up everywhere you see a financial advisor these days. There’s nothing quite like replacing piles of paper for  a sleek electronic presentation when showing “what if” scenarios to a client.

The iPad should dramatically curb situations where advisors have to run back to their office to run a set of potential outcomes for clients. Such efforts represent a loss of all-important face time moments with the client.

The iPad makes the documents that somehow “didn’t make the meeting” a thing of the past.

Meanwhile, tasks that often require follow-up after the original meeting now can be accomplished during the meeting. Additionally, if access to prior meeting notes via an advisor’s CRM or a future appointment needs to be made, iPads allow advisors to do so in the moment.

Although some may view early adopters as jumping on a “fad,” there are indications that access to this new technology may change the way client communications and meetings are handled in the future.

The latest data available from Resolve Market Research, Citrix, Yahoo and others on iPad usage reports:

• Broad appeal Early adopters of the iPad tended to be young professionals; between the ages of 22 to 45, with the next group of adopters being much older then might be expected, 45 and older, according to Citrix. The latter segment is crucial for advisors as they make up 56% of iPad users.

• Affluent tilt Yahoo has reported a high usage of Flickr, as well as Finance, News and Sports sites with iPad users. Additionally, 94% of iPad users are more likely to be affluent consumers with solid wealth and strong incomes. This is an audience ripe for investment commentaries via streaming video, blogs and commentary.

• Stimulates more browsing Whereas publications such as GQ.com and Vanityfair.com are viewed from desktops from two to four minutes per month, viewership times increase with an iPad. These same titles’ iPad Apps are seeing up top 60 minutes worth of online browsing.

Ultimately, the iPad is a global phenomenon that is already revolutionizing online reading, browsing and viewing habits. This is good for clients — and advisors.