Advisors have long relied on mutual fund firms for tools and materials to help them sell products and services to investors. Who guides these financial institutions through developing resources that advisors truly value? Dow Jones provided some answers with a webinar entitled Winning the Allegiance of Top Financial Advisors for behind-the-scenes executives.

In the webinar, Dow Jones argued that advisors are sorely in need of guidance. Many advisors have lost about 30% of assets in the market, and, as a result, they are rapidly losing client loyalty. In fact, the webinar stated that four out of five affluent investors are considering switching advisors. This leaves FAs in a tricky position as they struggle to maintain clients during times of extreme market uncertainty.

While things are looking grim for advisors, it may be the opposite for the firms that support them. Dow Jones argues that now is the best time for attracting new advisors, as switching firms carries less risk when incomes have plummeted and loyalty is scant.

To grasp this new opportunity for firms, Dow Jones focused on the disconnect between what advisors want and what investment firms think they want. It was pointed out that many financial product executives falsely believe that advisors are predominantly concerned with high-quality financial products; advisors in fact want help with practice management. Specifically, advisors need help finding wealthier clients, generating more asset growth, and developing client referrals.

As we discovered in our practice management report released last May, firms often fail to provide advisors with these types of materials. It will be interesting to see if financial firms take the hint and begin providing advisors with actionable materials they can use to bulk up their practice.