Wealth management firms trying to work out if their talent management and retention strategies are on the right track will be able to get a stronger idea from a major new benchmarking service.

The service is being launched by ClearView Financial Media – the publisher of this website – and Weatherill Consulting. (Bruce Weatherill is also chairman of ClearView.)

Organisations respond anonymously to online questionnaires that are sent out, asking questions about retention and development of relationship managers; the result is bespoke analysis identifying key issues, hotspots and how an organisation fares in comparison with the industry as a whole.

The idea of such a service came from when Weatherill Consulting's Value of Trust Report recently demonstrated the importance of unbroken relationships between wealth managers and clients as vital to gaining the prized “trusted advisor” status. This study found that it took at least six years for wealth managers to gain such status. It also found this process was impeded by the fact that 56 per cent of wealth managers had been at their organisation for five years or less (78 per cent for 10 years or less).

In a time when retaining clients and gaining new ones is critical to wealth managers it is clearly in their interests to keep their best employees. However, there is relatively little research carried out on employees within wealth management and what can be done to ensure that they have a vibrant career with their employee for the mutual good of the organisation, the employee and the client.

It is also important to investigate successful strategies for client acquisition and retention and the role played by the relationship managers in doing so.

The questions forming the basis of the benchmark build upon and deepen research initially carried out in the 2011 Value of Trust survey and report.

Specifically, benchmarking would include the following:

-- Why employees join and/or stay at their existing wealth manager or, if they leave, why they did so;

--  The importance of monetary reward, bonuses and establishing best practice;

--  The importance of development, training and culture (including any skills gaps);

--  Employees' views on regulatory changes;

--  The differences caused by different wealth management models;

--  What relationship managers regard as best practice in client handling;

--  The extent to which they are supported in becoming “trusted advisors”. 


In respect to successful client acquisition strategies the following would be investigated:

 -- Extent of referrals from existing clients;

 -- Extent of referrals from within their current organisation;

 -- Past employee referrals;

-- Extent to which clients followed an employee to the new organisation (and over what timeframe);

-- What assets were transferred and over what timeframe;

-- The relative success of different types of prospecting and marketing.

Getting involved

To take part in this benchmark service, organisations send out a simple questionnaire to relevant staff members. This is answered anonymously, returned to ClearView and analysed by Weatherill Executive Consulting.

To participate, the service is priced at £5,000 per organisation. Please click here to register interest.