The New Importance of
FINANCIAL PLANNING
Part 3: Impact on the Firm
For use with financial professionals only.
Cetera Financial Institutions
1
Introduction
Financial planning has the potential to dramatically reshape
the way that financial services are delivered in banks
and credit unions. But they will need to change the way
they manage their financial advisors—and manage the
expectations of their parent institution—in order to reap the
full benefits.
This study analyzes the impact of financial planning in
banks and credit unions: the difference made by level of
adoption, its effect on financial advisor productivity in terms
of both revenue and acquisition of new assets, and the firm’s
penetration of its opportunity. We also explore whether
firms will need to adjust their target advisor headcount as
advisors incorporate financial planning into their practices.
Finally, we identify strategies that firms committed to
focusing on financial planning will need to embrace in order
to be successful.
For use with financial professionals only.
This is the third white paper in a series on the new
importance of financial planning. Part one utilized consumer
data to describe households that have a written financial plan
in terms of their demographics, assets, channel and product
usage, and their attitudes towards investing. Part two drilled
deeper into that data, controlling for where the household
obtained a financial plan to explore the impact of financial
planning on client loyalty and where they keep their assets.
The analysis that follows draws on firm performance and
financial plan data from 60 financial institutions (31 banks
and 29 credit unions). A list of the participating firms can be
found in the Appendix. The data was collected in 2015 in the
fall. This study builds on Kehrer Bielan’s 2014 white paper The
Value of Adding Financial Planning Within Your Bank or Credit
Union, which is part of Cetera® Financial Institutions’ Guide to
Growth series.
Cetera Financial Institutions
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Levels of Financial Planning Activity
For the purposes of the study and to normalize the data, a
financial plan was defined as the process of completing and
delivering to the client recommendations based on the data
input into the firm-provided financial planning software.
THE TYPICAL ADVISOR IN A BANK OR
CREDIT UNION PRODUCES ONE PLAN
PER MONTH
The average firm in the survey has financial advisors who
prepare 16.8 financial plans for clients per year, or 1.4 plans
per month. The median number of financial plans completed
is lower—10.9 plans per year or 0.9 plans per month—a
reflection of the fact that the sample includes a handful of
firms that do significantly more planning.
Only one firm in the survey reported that its financial advisors
complete no financial plans. Another 28 percent of the firms
have advisors that prepare fewer than one plan per month on
average, 23 percent prepare roughly one plan per month, and
the remaining 47 percent prepare an average of two or more
plans per month. We will use these categories as the basis for
our analysis.
For use with financial professionals only.
Cetera Financial Institutions
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Financial Advisor Productivity
How do the advisors in firms that do more planning differ
from those that do less in terms of their annual production
and mix of business? Compared to firms with financial
advisors who complete less than one plan per month, firms
whose advisors complete roughly one plan per month have
average annual gross revenue per advisor that is 18 percent
higher—an additional $63,500 in annual revenue.
It appears that financial planning can cut both ways when it
comes to advisor productivity. On the one hand, engaging
with a client to prepare a financial plan can uncover
previously unseen opportunities to offer additional products
and services, increasing production. On the other hand, time
spent preparing plans can squeeze out time spent selling
products that generate commissions, putting a drag on
advisor productivity.
But average productivity in firms with advisors that do even
more planning, preparing two or more plans per month on
average, is slightly lower than in firms that complete less
than one plan per month, and 16 percent below average
advisor productivity in firms that complete around one plan
per month.
FIGURE 1: IMPACT OF PLANNING ACTIVITY ON
ADVISOR PRODUCTIVITY
Average Annual Gross
Revenue per Advisor
$408,621
$345,127
Less than One Plan
per Month
$341,463
One Plan
per Month
Two or More Plans
per Month
Average Number of Plans Completed per Advisor
For use with financial professionals only.
Cetera Financial Institutions
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New Assets
A similar pattern emerges when we consider the impact of
financial planning on the acquisition of new assets. Financial
advisors in firms that average around one plan per month
per advisor added 49 percent more new assets compared to
advisors in firms that do less planning.
Increasing the level of planning activity to two plans per
month per financial advisor, however, results in a sharp
decrease in the accumulation of assets. Firms that average
at least two plans per month have average new assets per
advisor that is 9 percent lower than firms that average less
than one plan per month per financial advisor, and 39 percent
lower than firms that average about one plan per month.
WITH TODAY’S BUSINESS METRICS,
ONE PLAN PER MONTH APPEARS TO
BE OPTIMAL FOR ADVISORS
If increasing average financial advisor productivity and
acquisition of new assets are the firm’s top priorities, it would
appear that one plan per month per advisor may be the
optimal level of financial planning activity for that firm to aim
to achieve.
FIGURE 2: IMPACT OF PLANNING ACTIVITY ON
ADVISOR ACQUISITION OF NEW ASSETS
Average Annual New Assets
Acquired per Advisor (Thousands)
$9,170
$6,136
Less than One Plan
per Month
$5,567
One Plan
per Month
Two or More Plans
per Month
Average Number of Plans Completed per Advisor
For use with financial professionals only.
Cetera Financial Institutions
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Business Mix
Another objective of many firms that encourage their
financial advisors to adopt financial planning is to transition
those advisors from primarily transactions-for-commissions
business to an advisory practice that generates fees on
assets. Does increasing the number of plans advisors prepare
result in greater revenue from advisory fees?
Moving from less than one plan per month per advisor to one
plan per month appears to have no impact on the amount of
advisory revenue the advisor generates. However, financial
advisors in firms that average two or more plans per month
per advisor generate 2.3 times as much advisory revenue
compared to advisors in firms that do less planning.
So it appears that financial planning can help to grow
advisory revenue, but that firms may experience no real boost
in terms of advisory revenue until they achieve a high level of
financial planning activity.
FIGURE 3: IMPACT OF PLANNING ACTIVITY
ON ADVISOR’S ADVISORY BUSINESS
MORE PLANNING ENCOURAGES
ADVISORY AND LIFE INSURANCE
BUSINESS
On the other hand, financial planning appears to be one of
the few activities that can move the needle on life insurance
sales. Financial advisors in firms that average one plan per
month (per advisor) generate 20 percent more revenue from
life insurance sales compared to advisors in firms that do less
planning.
Average annual life insurance revenue per financial advisor in
firms whose advisors prepare at least two plans per month,
while still high, is slightly lower than in firms that average
one plan per month per financial advisor, but that is because
overall average productivity is lower in those firms that do the
most planning. Firms whose advisors average two or more
plans per month have the highest share of revenue derived
from life insurance sales.
FIGURE 4: IMPACT OF PLANNING ACTIVITY
ON ADVISOR’S LIFE INSURANCE PRODUCTION
Average Annual Life Insurance
Revenue per Advisor
Average Annual Advisory
Revenue per Advisor
$86,103
$37,888 $36,645
Less than
One Plan per
Month
One Plan
per Month
Two or More
Plans per
Month
Average Number of Plans Completed per Advisor
For use with financial professionals only.
$13,088 $12,754
$10,942
Less than
One Plan per
Month
One Plan
per Month
Two or More
Plans per
Month
Average Number of Plans Completed per Advisor
Cetera Financial Institutions
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Penetration of the Opportunity
Of course, investment services firms are not just interested
in shaping the behavior of their financial advisors; they are
also focused on improving firm performance. So how should
investment services in financial institutions be assessed?
Many firms are judged primarily on the percentage of
revenue they bring to the bottom line—profit margins. We
believe that is a misguided approach.
Firms with financial advisors who prepare roughly one plan
per month have revenue penetration of deposits that is 75
percent higher than firms that do less planning. Deposit
revenue penetration in those firms that average one plan per
month per advisor is also 54 percent higher than in firms
where advisors complete at least two plans per month.
The primary objective of investment services in banks
and credit unions should be to capture the investment
advice business of the host institution’s client base, so firm
performance should be assessed relative to that opportunity.
The host institution’s consumer deposits are commonly
used to gauge the size of the opportunity for investment
services in that institution. So how does financial planning
affect penetration of the firm’s opportunity, as measured by
investment services revenue per million of the institution’s
consumer deposits?
FIGURE 5: IMPACT OF PLANNING ACTIVITY ON
DEPOSIT REVENUE PENETRATION
Annual Investment Services
Revenue per Million of Institution’s
Consumer Deposits
$2,683
$1,743
$1,532
Less than One Plan
per Month
One Plan
per Month
Two or More Plans
per Month
Average Number of Plans Completed per Advisor
For use with financial professionals only.
Cetera Financial Institutions
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Similarly, firms that average one plan per month per financial
advisor appear to generate more profit relative to their
opportunity than the other firms in the survey—194 percent
higher than firms whose advisors prepare less than one plan
per month, and 163 percent higher than firms whose advisors
prepare two or more plans per month.
At first blush it might look like the firms in the survey whose
financial advisors prepare about one plan per month have
achieved significantly greater penetration of their opportunity
than the other firms in the survey, both those that prepare
fewer plans and those that prepare more. But financial
planning is not the only factor that shapes firm performance.
By controlling for the number of advisors the firm deploys
relative to its size, and for the average productivity of those
advisors, we are able to isolate the impact of the level of
financial planning activity on firm performance.
INCREASING THE NUMBER OF PLANS
PER ADVISOR DOES NOT INCREASE
REVENUE OR PROFIT
Relative to the other firms in the survey, those firms whose
financial advisors prepare about one plan per month have 60
percent more advisors relative to their consumer deposits,
and 19 percent higher advisor productivity. Advisor coverage
and productivity account for 58 percent of the variation in
deposit revenue penetration for all the firms in this study.
Controlling or normalizing for their respective advisor
coverage and productivity, the number of plans per advisor
has no impact on deposit revenue penetration.
This finding poses a challenge for firms looking to make the
shift to a financial planning focus. Advisor coverage and
advisor productivity drive penetration of the institution’s
opportunity. Financial planning drives more advisory and life
insurance business, but curtails advisor productivity if the
advisor prepares more than one plan per month. Pressure
from institution management can skew towards identifying
ways the firm and advisor earn greater revenue and net
income sooner. Increasing the number of financial plans the
firm’s advisors prepare, without making other adjustments
to the way the business is managed, is not likely to
accomplish that.
FIGURE 6: IMPACT OF PLANNING ACTIVITY ON
DEPOSIT REVENUE PENETRATION
Annual Net Income from
Investment Services per Million of
Institution’s Consumer Deposits
$927
$352
$315
Less than One Plan
per Month
One Plan
per Month
Two or More Plans
per Month
Average Number of Plans Completed per Advisor
For use with financial professionals only.
Cetera Financial Institutions
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Adjusting the Optimum Advisor Coverage Ratio
Indeed, Kehrer Bielan’s long-running research of investment
services in banks and credit unions has consistently
demonstrated that the number of financial advisors a firm
deploys relative to its size is the single most important factor
in determining firm performance. The experience of the
60 banks and credit unions we examined here once again
confirmed that finding.
For the firms in this study, advisor deposit coverage—
consumer deposits per advisor—accounts for 31 percent of
the variation in deposit revenue penetration. On average,
improving advisor coverage from $302 million per advisor
(the average) to $167 million per advisor (the top quartile)
increases revenue penetration of deposits by 27 percent.
ADVISOR COVERAGE IS THE MOST
IMPORTANT DRIVER OF REVENUE
AND PROFIT CONTRIBUTION
If advisor deposit coverage is such a powerful strategy to
increase penetration of a bank or credit union’s opportunity,
why does the typical firm deploy only one advisor for every
$302 million in consumer deposits? Firms face a challenging
recruiting environment, with a growing shortage of qualified
advisors. And some firms face resistance to hiring advisors
from the top of the house, which imposes headcount freezes
or vetoes recruiting bonuses that would squeeze short-term
profit margins even though additional advisors are accretive
to profits. But many firms have not optimized their advisor
headcount because they, and the advisors themselves, fear
that adding advisors will hurt advisor productivity, and hence
advisor compensation.
Revenue Penetration of Deposits
(Revenue per Million of Consumer Deposits)
FIGURE 7: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN REVENUE PENETRATION
OF DEPOSITS AND ADVISOR DEPOSIT COVERAGE
$8,000
$7,000
$6,000
$5,000
$4,000
$3,000
$2,000
$1,000
$0
$0
$100
$200 $300 $400 $500 $600 $700 $800 $900 $1,000
Advisor Deposit Coverage
(Millions of Deposits per Advisor)
For use with financial professionals only.
Cetera Financial Institutions
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But Kehrer Bielan research has demonstrated repeatedly
that, for most firms, adding advisors does not reduce gross
revenue per advisor. In an earlier Guide to Growth study—
Optimizing the Advisor-to-Client Ratio—we found that banks
and credit unions could increase their advisor headcount
to $170 million in deposit coverage per advisor without
undermining productivity. And a few firms had advisor
coverage as thick as $100 million per advisor, with only a
modest negative impact on advisor productivity.
THE TYPICAL FIRM COULD INCREASE
ITS ADVISOR HEADCOUNT BY
140 PERCENT WITHOUT HURTING
AVERAGE ADVISOR PRODUCTIVITY
Our new survey data indicates that some firms have been
able to increase advisor coverage to less than $125 million per
advisor without hurting average advisor production.
FIRMS THAT DO THE MOST
PLANNING HAVE FEWER ADVISORS
WHEN THEY SHOULD HAVE MORE
How do they accomplish this? By moving advisors with a
healthy client base out of the branch and diverting referrals
to new advisors, hiring associate advisors to be mentored by
more seasoned advisors, and improving productivity by
hiring sales assistants and enhancing client-facing and
processing technology.
The firms in the survey that do the most financial planning
have too few advisors as compared to firms that do more
transactional business, when they should have relatively
more advisors given the time demands of providing holistic
financial advice. By failing to deploy an adequate number of
advisors, those firms rob themselves of some of the potential
benefits that a financial planning focus can offer.
Revenue Penetration of Deposits
(Revenue per Million of Consumer Deposits)
FIGURE 8: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ADVISOR PRODUCTIVITY
AND DEPOSIT COVERAGE
$800,000
$700,000
$600,000
$500,000
$400,000
$300,000
$200,000
$100,000
$0
$0
$100
$200 $300 $400 $500 $600 $700 $800 $900 $1,000
Advisor Deposit Coverage
(Millions of Deposits per Advisor)
For use with financial professionals only.
Cetera Financial Institutions
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What Firms Need to Do Now
What will need to change for firms to be successful in
transitioning to a greater financial planning focus? A lot.
In many ways this shift is similar to what many firms
undertook when transitioning to more advisory business. But
this time the stakes are higher and there is greater urgency.
In the past a firm could get by without incorporating advisory
business because it could still book transaction business. But
regulatory developments are curtailing transaction business,
and competition from low-cost providers is undermining
fees for asset management. The shift to planning will impact
business as we know it much more quickly, requiring a more
urgent and dramatic change in order to retain the client
relationships and revenue currently in place.
Unlike the shift to advisory business, the shift to financial
planning is a cultural one rather than a product one. Advisory
business was in many ways viewed by the advisor as an
alternative product choice. Financial planning isn’t a product;
it’s a service, overarching all products. This shift will require a
change in how we value our business, how advisors perform
their role and what clients come to expect from us.
THE SHIFT TO FINANCIAL PLANNING
IS A CULTURAL SHIFT, NOT A
PRODUCT SHIFT
Some of the positioning decisions and changes to the
business that need to occur when shifting to a financial
planning focus are:
Hire differently
Advisors that will thrive in a more planning-based
environment will need superior listening skills, patience,
organizational skills, a broader product background and
a longer time horizon for financial rewards than many of
today’s advisors. Those traits are not always synonymous
with the highest-producing advisors today.
For use with financial professionals only.
Train differently
Advisors will need to know how to engage clients on the
planning subject, and how to sell the benefits and close
business when a client may initially not be thinking about
a financial plan. The advisor will need to understand what
the plan provides, its true value and when to offer it. And
depending on the planning delivery method, advisors will
have varying new responsibilities, including technology skills,
which they will need to be able to perform seamlessly.
Compensate differently
When making the transition to advisory business, many
firms made the mistake of paying their advisors on the same
monthly commission schedules and measured performance
solely on production. This resulted in little additional advisory
business. With the switch to financial planning, advisors need
to be rewarded in a way that supports the shift to a planning
role. This can include: paying more for business when a
financial plan is completed; paying at a higher grid on all
business if an advisor performs a number of financial plans;
paying a greater portion of overall compensation in salary
for completion of financial plans; providing other business
development resources like additional sales assistants, a
marketing budget, and external training/coaching to those
advisors that support the planning initiative. Regardless of the
method used, there needs to be a financial reward that aligns
advisors’ efforts in planning with their overall compensation.
Refer differently
With a shift to financial planning, branch client sourcing
should evolve. Branch staff will need to be more skilled
in identifying a referral candidate. The pitch used in the
retail environment should be revamped to better outline
the benefits of working with an advisor, and presented in a
manner to appeal to the ideal target market. Branch staff
will need to identify not only clients to whom a planning
resource can be a real benefit, but those willing to engage
in the process.
Cetera Financial Institutions
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Planning tools
A financial planning focus will require an evaluation of the
planning tools in place today to ensure they are right for
the job—both modular and comprehensive. Important
considerations include ease of use, the ability to integrate
data with other client applications, the ability for clients
to see a version of their plan online so they can make
adjustments and run scenarios, and a cost/benefit evaluation
of the tools.
Planning delivery
Planning can be delivered through dedicated planners
with assigned territories as a resource to the advisors,
through advisors who perform the financial planning
work themselves, a centralized support unit to provide
the planning, or a combination of the three methods. The
combination of methods can allow a firm to scale the delivery
to meet a client’s needs while matching cost with the
potential revenue. This could mean a comprehensive planning
process delivered by a dedicated planner to clients with
substantial investable assets where a tailored plan can make
a real difference, and a centralized planning resource that
provides model plans to clients with less investable assets
and a need for more basic planning concepts. The costs,
employee resources, training, tools and level of planning the
client receives will differ based on the delivery method.
Planning pricing
Whether the firm provides planning for a fee or as a
complimentary value-add service will shape how clients
perceive the benefit of planning. If a firm charges a fee for
planning, it will need parameters around how that fee can be
earned out or waived. The revenue received and value of a
client paying for planning by having a vested interest in the
process will need to be weighed against the sales obstacle
a fee provides and the costs the firm will need to absorb if it
does not charge.
Client benefits
As with many technological advances, consumers are the
ultimate winners. With a shift to more planning, clients will
receive a more holistic view of their financial situation and get
recommendations that are more targeted to life goals than
investment returns, likely resulting in broader product sales
and a stronger relationship.
Cultural change
The greatest change that needs to occur is a cultural shift
within the firm. The usual business practices are built upon
identifying ways the firm and advisor earn greater revenue
and net income sooner. As we explored in our discussion
of deposit penetration, implementing planning successfully
will likely not do that. Building out the required platform,
developing advisors’ skill set and supporting the new
business will all take resources that will be difficult to afford.
That is one of the reasons planning has not proliferated yet.
THE GREATEST CHANGE NEEDED IS A
CULTURAL SHIFT WITHIN THE FIRM
Advisors will make far greater time investments in clients
before seeing revenue—but eventually they will see greater
revenue over a longer period of time.
Firms will have to deploy resources before plans are delivered
and wait longer for the revenue to pay for the investments—
but without this investment the number of clients utilizing the
firm’s services will continue to shrink and clients with greater
financial means will move elsewhere.
Clients will need to adapt to a different advisor interaction
and participate more in their financial future.
And the cultural shift is as much about managing
expectations as anything else. Business performance should
not be compared to the current model. Instead, it should be
compared to what the business will look like absent a shift
to planning, with commission-based business and asset
management fees shrinking. This is where the commitment
by advisors, the investment services firm and parent financial
institution will separate firms: those that are committed to
a shift to planning will pull ahead of those that view it as a
product and hope that planning will increase while the
factors required to make the change remain constant. As
a greater level of planning becomes more prevalent in the
marketplace, the firms that believe in the future by investing
in their advisors, clients and financial planning offering
will win the day as the provider of choice in the new age of
financial advice.
CONSUMERS ARE THE
ULTIMATE WINNERS
For use with financial professionals only.
Cetera Financial Institutions
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The New Importance of Financial Planning: Summary
Part one of our research demonstrated that households that embrace financial planning are extremely
valuable clients, but few turn to banks and credit unions for holistic financial advice. Part two showed
that when a bank or credit union provides the financial plan, the household keeps more of its investible
assets with the institution, looks to the institution as its primary source of financial advice, and will
maintain its relationship with the institution longer than other households. That means that their
banking relationship is also more profitable. Together, parts one and two provide a strong argument for
why banks and credit unions should embrace a financial planning methodology.
In part three we reviewed the current state of financial planning in banks and credit unions, and the
impact of planning on advisors and the firm. We found that the typical advisor in a financial institution
produces about one plan per month, and using the metrics currently used to evaluate advisors, that
would be the optimal level of planning. Advisors that do one plan a month have much higher revenue
production and acquire more new assets than advisors who produce fewer or more plans per month.
But advisors who do two or more plans per month produce more advisory and life insurance business,
demonstrating the value of holistic planning. For many firms, this is the future they seek.
The firms whose advisors average one plan per month produce more revenue and profit relative to
their opportunity than other firms, but that is because they have much thicker advisor coverage of
their opportunity. Firms whose advisors average two or more plans per month have too few advisors
compared to firms that do more transactional business, when the time demands of holistic planning
indicate that they should have more advisors. The optimum combination is the financial advisor
coverage that is seen in firms producing one plan per month combined with the greater financial plans
performed in firms producing two or more plans per month.
How do banks and credit unions add the advisors they need and become providers of holistic financial
advice? They have to hire differently, train differently, compensate differently, and refer differently.
They have to adopt the planning tools, plan delivery system, and pricing that fits their business model.
They need to hire more advisors to fulfill the advice needs of their clients. And there needs to be a
cultural shift in the institution that embraces new metrics for success.
The ultimate winner will be the client, who benefits from better financial advice.
For use with financial professionals only.
Cetera Financial Institutions
13
Build Your Program with a Trusted Partner
Cetera® Financial Institutions understands the importance of embracing a true, holistic financial
planning approach. That’s why our training opportunities and educational events deliver the
specific tools, research, marketing, and best practices financial professionals need to refine their
wealth management skills, better engage with clients and dramatically grow their financial
institution’s program.
Wealth Management University (WMU), created in partnership with leading wealth management
training and consulting company Cannon Financial Institute, offers unparalleled opportunities for
advisors to develop their wealth management skill set through intensive, multi-day classes with top
industry educators.
The Certified Wealth Strategist® (CWS®) Program helps advisors understand and integrate
critical financial concepts into everyday work and client interactions, teaching them the skills
they need to confidently apply that knowledge throughout the life of the client relationship.
The Certified Retirement Counselor® (CRC®) Program teaches them how to address the
challenges facing retirees and overcome retirement planning and income management issues.
The Accredited Investment Fiduciary® (AIF®) Designation Program trains advisors to become
an investment fiduciary so they can establish, articulate and document a thorough fiduciary
standard for retirement plans or advisory accounts.
Our interactive ACE Program helps investment adviser representatives (IARs) advise, consult and
engage their clients on a suite of financial planning services. With scripts that cover a variety of
situations and client responses, client-facing documents, communications and more, ACE helps current
IARs be more effective while ensuring those new to fee-based services hit the ground running.
At the core of the ACE Program and many of our wealth management technology solutions are the
robust capabilities of MoneyGuide Suite, which all Cetera Financial Institutions advisors can access.
Through MoneyGuide’s financial planning tools, advisors can build modular or comprehensive needs
analysis and plans for prospects and existing clients, covering topics such as risk management (life,
disability, and long-term care), goal planning for retirement, college funding, major purchases, asset
allocation and estate needs. MoneyGuide allows for “what if” planning as well as a unique “super solve”
optimizer to assist the advisor in building a plan that meets the client’s ideal and acceptable goals.
In addition to live, monthly training on the MoneyGuide suite of tools, we provide one-on-one support
over the phone with our wealth management technology trainers.
To learn more about how Cetera Financial Institutions can help you develop a financial planning
course of action, contact Sean Casey by phone at 800.245.0467, ext. 65014; by email at
[email protected]; or visit us at ceterafinancialinstitutions.com.
For use with financial professionals only.
Cetera Financial Institutions
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About the Authors
TIM KEHRER
Tim is a senior research analyst who contributes his extensive experience in the interpretation of survey
data to KBR&C’s robust research program. He was formerly a political operative who served on three
winning campaigns for the U.S. Senate, most recently managing the largest research department of
any Senate campaign in the country. Prior to that he worked for the independent expenditure arm
of a national political party committee where he studied public opinion surveys and focus-group
research from across the country as part of the production and deployment of television and radio
advertisements.
At KBR&C, he directs the annual benchmarking surveys of investment services in credit unions and
bank broker-dealers, and the annual TPM Survey. He is co-author of The Opportunity for Credit Unions
in Investment and Life Insurance Services.
KENNETH KEHRER, PH.D.
Dr. Kehrer, a principal of Kehrer Bielan Research & Consulting, has been studying the transformation of
banks and credit unions to financial services stores since the early 1980s. His research has influenced
the metrics that a generation of industry practitioners now uses to assess their businesses and
assimilate best industry practices.
Dr. Kehrer has also consulted for scores of banks and credit unions and over 100 product and service
providers—insurers, investment companies, securities firms, technology providers, management
consultants, and marketing organizations—on the development of strategies for distribution through
financial institutions. In 2004 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Bank Insurance
and Securities Association for his contribution to the industry. He earned a Ph.D. in Economics from
Yale University.
PETER BIELAN
Peter has been an active participant in the financial institution investment services industry since 1985.
His roles have encompassed advisor, sales manager and president of the retail broker-dealer for two
of the 15 largest U.S. banks. As a principal of Kehrer Bielan Research & Consulting, Bielan’s focus is on
growing the investment, wealth management and insurance business within banks and credit unions.
He manages the firm’s financial institution compensation consulting practice and conducts complete
business reviews, as well as consulting on recruiting, technology and operations, and the transformation
to an advice model.
Throughout his career he has strategically focused on profitably growing sales, developing the
infrastructure needed for expansion, and leveraging the partnership between investment services and
other businesses within the financial institution.
For use with financial professionals only.
Cetera Financial Institutions
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About Kehrer Bielan Research & Consulting
KBR&C provides the financial advice industry with insights based on a melding of research and experience
in managing the delivery of investment, insurance, and wealth management services. The firm provides
performance assessment and benchmarking, human resource management and development, due diligence,
consumer insights, and interpretation of industry trends through its original research, unbiased consulting, and
peer study groups.
Please visit us at www.KehrerBielan.com or email [email protected] for more information.
The information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable; however, neither KBR&C nor Cetera
Investment Services guarantee accuracy or completeness.
The information presented herein is not intended to provide tax, legal, accounting, financial, or professional advice. Neither KBR&C nor
Cetera Investment Services shall have any liability or responsibility to any individual or entity with respect to losses or damages caused
or alleged to be caused, directly or indirectly, by the information contained in this document.
Neither Cetera Financial Group nor any of its firms are affiliated with the authors of this paper.
For use with financial professionals only.
Cetera Financial Institutions
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Appendix: List of Participating Firms
Affinity Investment Services
First Southeast Investor Services, Inc.
Allegacy Federal Credit Union
FirstMerit Bank
Alliant Credit Union
Golden 1 Credit Union
American Airlines Federal Credit Union
Hancock Investment Services, Inc.
American National Bank of Texas
Key Investment Services
Anchor Investment Services
Kirtland Federal Credit Union
Arvest Asset Management
Lake Trust Credit Union
Associated Investment Services, Inc.
Langley Investment Services
Bank of Oklahoma
Logix Federal Credit Union
Bank of the West
M&T Bank
BBVA Compass
MEMBERS Financial Services located at
Cornerstone Credit Union
Bethpage Investment Strategies
BMO Harris Financial Advisors
Cadence Bank DBA Cadence Investment Services
CAP COM Federal Credit Union
Capital One Financial Advisors
Citizens Equity First Credit Union
Citizens Bank of Rhode Island
Clearview Federal Credit Union
Columbia Credit Union
Comerica Securities
CommunityAmerica Credit Union
Country Club Financial Services, Inc.
Elements Federal Credit Union
Elevations Credit Union
Eli Lilly Federal Credit Union
Enrichment Federal Credit Union
ESL Investment Services, LLC
First Brokerage America, LLC
First Citizens Bank
Navy Federal Financial Group
Partners Federal Credit Union
Patelco Credit Union
People’s Securities Inc.
PNC Investments
Popular Investments
Premier America Credit Union
Santander Securities (formerly Sovereign Bank)
SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union
South State Bank
Synovus Securities, Inc.
TD Private Client Wealth
Teachers Federal Credit Union
Trustmark
U.S. Bancorp
Webster
Wells Fargo
Wescom Credit Union
First Niagara Bank
For use with financial professionals only.
Cetera Financial Institutions
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For more information, please contact:
Cetera Financial Institutions
400 First Street South, Suite 300
St. Cloud, MN 56301
800.245.0467
ceterafinancialinstitutions.com
About Cetera® Financial Institutions
Cetera Financial Institutions is a marketing name of Cetera Investment
Services LLC, a self-clearing registered broker-dealer who delivers
customized investment and insurance solutions to more than 400
financial institutions nationwide. Cetera Financial Institutions helps
institutions expand their financial offerings, which allows clients to
pursue their financial goals through a holistic approach while delivering
sound and strong financial solutions. Through Cetera Investment
Advisers LLC, an SEC registered investment adviser firm, financial
advisors receive a wide array of solutions and back-office support, so that
they can focus on their clients.
Cetera Investment Services and Cetera Investment Advisers are
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Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) and the Financial
Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). For more information, see
ceterafinancialinstitutions.com.
Cetera Financial Institutions is a marketing name of Cetera Investment Services LLC, member FINRA/SIPC.
For use with financial professionals only.
© 2016 Cetera® Financial Institutions 16-0228 05/16