PRNewswire-FirstCall
JERSEY CITY, N.J.
(NYSE:BK)
Nov 19, 2007
JERSEY CITY, N.J., November 19, 2007 — Pershing Advisor Solutions LLC, a subsidiary of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, has released a new study with Moss Adams LLP entitled Fast Forward: The Advisor of the Future.
As a component of Pershing Advisor Solutions' Ideas Without Limits(SM) practice management program, the study helps independent registered investment advisors (RIAs) transform the macro-level findings previously unveiled in Uncharted Waters: Navigating the Forces Shaping the Advisory Industry, into actionable strategies and tactics they can utilize to enhance and successfully grow their practices. According to the study, the advisor of the future will be evaluated on "three C's" -- change, capacity and culture, which will define their future ability to compete. Key highlights from the study include:
* Devise Bold Organizational Changes -- Over the next five years, the typical RIA will undergo a rapid transformation and the average RIA firm is expected to triple in size. To increase revenue and owner income, independent registered investment advisory firms need to be thoughtful when making hiring decisions-stretching beyond the tendency to simply add more advisors. Advisory firm owners also need to consider expanding their practices by creating more sophisticated organizational structures that include support functions, dedicated management positions and specialists such as financial planning experts and tax professionals. Developing employees who can drive cultural change and enter leadership roles will also play an integral role in helping to boost retention, extend the span of control and ensure succession when an owner decides to make a transition; * Create and Maintain Capacity -- The key to fast growth is having professionals who can take full advantage of opportunities when they are available. Firms that have high productivity but no free capacity have struggled to grow. In fact, firms that had the highest productivity in 2003 had a difficult time capturing the opportunity the market presented in 2004. At the same time, firms that grew very fast had excess capacity and lower productivity levels. A firm that has aspirations to grow quickly has to maintain the capacity to do so at all times and be ready to capture the opportunity when it presents itself. Excess capacity is critical to capturing the "Big Years" -- periods of dramatic opportunities created by either changing behavior of consumers or great equity markets; and * Foster a Culture that Supports Strategy -- Rapid growth often creates a "cultural vacuum," whereby a firm's culture can be challenged by its ability to adapt to new organizational goals. To combat these challenges, firms need to manage cultural change by leading by example, defining success appropriately, articulating and communicating a set of shared values and accepting and embracing new employees. Founders will have to let go of some of their traditional responsibilities but at the same time find a way to maintain a culture that fosters an intense focus on the client, maintains an entrepreneurial drive and provides people with ample opportunity to reap individual reward.
Beginning on November 29, 2007, Pershing Advisor Solutions and Moss Adams LLP will host the first of 13 regional consultative-oriented workshops, which will leverage the Fast Forward study and Pershing Advisor Solutions' previous study with Moss Adams entitled Uncharted Waters: Navigating the Forces Shaping the Advisory Industry. These interactive workshops will highlight the key findings from both studies and give participants the opportunity to create a personalized scorecard, with analysis of where their firms rank compared to their peers across the three focus areas: culture, change and capacity. Participants will also explore strategies and tactics to successfully position their firms for the anticipated growth of the industry over the next five years.
Mark Tibergien, managing director at Pershing Advisor Solutions, said, "Consumer demand for independent registered investment advisory services will create tremendous growth in the coming years, however, clients will understand advisory services better and place greater demands on service. To capture market share during this period, independent registered investment advisors need to prepare for this growth opportunity by building more sophisticated organizations that can meet their clients' elevated expectations."
Philip Palaveev, principal of Moss Adams, said, "The RIA firms that will grow the fastest are those that will explore opportunities to increase capacity. The big years-periods of dramatic opportunity created by changes in consumer behavior or great equity markets-can either jump-start the growth of a firm or, if missed, cause a firm to lag behind its competitors. Fast Forward provides independent registered investment advisory firm owners with a road map to help them seize these opportunities so that they can successfully grow their practices."
The study was commissioned by Pershing Advisor Solutions LLC and independently executed by Moss Adams LLP. For a copy of the full report, please e-mail Pershing Advisor Solutions at pasinformation@pershing.com.
Pershing Advisor Solutions LLC (member FINRA/SIPC) is an affiliate of Pershing LLC and a leading provider of financial business solutions to independent, fee-based registered investment advisors and dually-registered advisors working in conjunction with many of Pershing LLC's introducing broker-dealer customers. Pershing LLC, a subsidiary of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, is committed to service excellence and to providing dependable operational support, robust trading services, flexible technology, an expansive array of investment solutions and practice management support. Through an innovative custody platform, Pershing Advisor Solutions delivers superior expertise and scalable and customizable solutions to help its customers manage and grow their fee-based businesses. Additional information is available at pershingadvisorsolutions.com.
The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation is a global financial services company focused on helping clients manage and service their financial assets, operating in 34 countries and serving more than 100 markets. The company is a leading provider of financial services for institutions, corporations and high-net-worth individuals, providing superior asset management and wealth management, asset servicing, issuer services, clearing services and treasury services through a worldwide client-focused team. It has more than $20 trillion in assets under custody and administration, more than $1.1 trillion in assets under management and services $11 trillion in outstanding debt. Additional information is available at bnymellon.com.