According to Limra (via a story in this morning’s Ignites), total US VA sales were down 18% from 2008, though it seems most of the loss ocurred in the first half of the year. Given the shambles that was the financial market in general last year, this statistic is not too surprising, but it will certainly be on the minds of attendees at the upcoming IRI conference in New York starting Sunday.

If you are planning to attend, please drop by and see us at our booth. During the conference, we’ll be unveiling a new paper that looks at the state of annuity advisor websites. Using our website audit methodology, this paper will provide readers with the top five firms and best practices in the following categories:

• Advisor WEbsite Design & Usability
• Advisor Product Information & Marketing
• Advisor Sales Resources
• Advisor Sales Tools
• Advisor Literature Order Systems
• Advisor Services

I will also be leading a panel discussion Social Media and what place it has within the annuity industry. Joining me on the panel will be Jon Caddell, Digital Advertising Director at ING Financial Services; Stephen Johnson, Director Participant Services Marketing at TIAA-CREF; and Don Montenaro Chairman & CEO of TradeKing. I hope to see you there!

We’re getting ready to publish the latest e-Monitor Report and this one is about email support. Specifically, the report looks at the availability, usefulness and responses from publicly available non-client emails. We examined the 20 brokerage firms tracked by e-Monitor and looked for publicly available prospect email tools or links. The initial thought was that all firms would surely provide something as simple as an email link - after all, it IS the new millennium! Turns out there is a little more variation than you’d think.

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Rarely is a mutual fund firm’s website synonymous with the word “entertainment,” so T. Rowe Price has clearly gone against the grain by teaming up with Walt Disney Resorts Online to create the Great Piggy Bank Adventure online game. The new game is a good way for parents to introduce children to basic money management principles, allowing users to select a goal that can be achieved through earning and saving “truffles” (the game’s monetary system) and making wise financial decisions throughout the game’s multiple levels. Goal items include a pet rabbit, an art canvas, a toy helicopter, a tree-fort and a basketball hoop. Continue Reading »

Over the past few years, Corporate Insight has received several requests to evaluate the online educational capabilities of retail financial services firms. As a result, we’ve conducted a number of custom research studies on the subject. This year, we even added an entire category to the Brokerage Website Audit devoted to Investor Education to reflect the increasing importance of good education as a competitive differentiator.

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On Friday, I met with the team that’s putting together the social media report to discuss initial findings. It’s going to be a great report, featuring reviews of the social media features of all of the firms we cover for our Monitor services, as well as some others outside our coverage group (like Quicken) that we feel are worth understanding. Our research reveals a few overarching themes that firms need to consider: Continue Reading »

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’re well aware of the fact that we’re currently working on a major syndicated research report - Social Media: Trends and Tactics in the Financial Services Industry - which we will publish this October. This comprehensive study promises to be the first industry-wide assessment of the way financial services firms use social media today.

We know from our research and from conversations with our clients that social media is slowly taking hold across all major financial services segments. That said, we’re interested in hearing directly from you about your firm’s plans in this area. With that in mind, we’d appreciate it if you would take two minutes to complete a brief survey regarding your firm’s plans in this area. To complete the survey, click here.

Your responses will help Corporate Insight to better understand your current and future social media initiatives, if any, which we think will enrich our research. Thanks in advance for your help.

For more information about the report, contact Jaclyn Silverberg at 212-832-2002 x.127 or jsilverberg [at] corporateinsight.com.

Elements of social media - like blogs, community and groups - are fast becoming a part of many financial services websites. Firms have also begun to stake out their place on major social sites like Facebook and YouTube. This year in particular has seen several financial services firms wake up to the potential of social media. As more and more companies dive into this new territory, it’s inevitable that some will succeed in implementing a social media strategy, while many will fail to effectively engage their audience.

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Yesterday’s edition of Investor’s Business Daily featured a story by Brian Deagon entitled “Stock Sites Get ‘Social’ In 2.0 Era.” The article discusses the emergence of online investing communities and how these social networks act as an alternative source for research and investment advice.

I had a conversation with Mr. Deagon several weeks ago as he was researching the topic. We spoke about my piece in the spring edition of the Consulting Insights newsletter and what we thought the long-term effects would be on the brokerage industry. Continue Reading »

It’s no coincidence that three of our last five blog posts have addressed the role of social media in the financial services industry. The topic continues to gain momentum in the industry and while it’s far too early to know just how great the impact will be on companies’ bottom lines, it’s clear that firms are actively looking for ways to harness this new form of marketing.

After my article on social media appeared in the most recent edition of our Consulting Newsletter, a number of clients expressed interest in learning more about the current state of social media and the financial services industry. As a result, we are preparing to publish a report on the topic this September. If you are interested in learning more about this report, feel free to send me an email at amaginn(@)corporateinsight.com.

It’s been over two years since Business Week put Second Life on its cover. For those needing a refresher, Second Life is a virtual online world where users create their own identities and interact in a 3D environment. In its May 1, 2006 issue, Business Week hailed the concept of a virtual world as something that could help companies “transform the way they operate by providing a new template for getting work done, from training and collaboration to product design and marketing.”

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