January Advisor’s Edge shows you how to streamline

(January 10, 2005) It’s a busy time of year for many advisors, as clients rush to get their RRSP contributions in and portfolios are up for review.

With all that hustle and bustle, it might also be time to trim the deadwood from your book — not just for your sake, but for your clients, too. If you want to know how, check out the January edition of Advisor’s Edge magazine.

“A lot of advisors tend to have more clients than they can actually service well,” says Deanne N. Gage, managing editor of Advisor’s Edge. “It may be time they consider streamlining their practice.”

The story looks at examples from advisors who have done just that — they have cut back their practice to beef up service. For example, high-end advisor Thane Stenner originally had as many as 800 client families, but now he provides services to only 28 families, with each bringing about $10 million in assets to the table.

San Antonio, Texas-based Mark Little had a client list 1200 names long, before scaling back to just 17 clients. He then focused on generating referrals, building his book back up to 91 clients, with a goal of working with 100.

The smaller number of clients allows these advisors to offer superior service, attracting high-net-worth (HNW) clients who generate far more income for the advisor than their bloated books ever did.

“The story not only explains how these advisors accomplished their streamlining, but why they did it and how they did it without starving,” says Gage.

The January issue of Advisor’s Edge also includes a feature on annuities. Advisor Bruce Cumming says more advisors need to be considering annuities for clients who are afraid of volatile markets and just want a consistent return and monthly income.

Cumming, who won the Advisor of the Year Award for Ontario last year, based his award-winning case study on how he used annuities with particular clients.

The edition also includes the final installment of the RRSP Survival Guide, which features an article by AIM Trimark’s Jamie Golombek on RRSPs for children.

“It’s never too early to start building contribution room for your children,” says Gage. “If a child has a paper route or a job in their parents’ company, and they file a tax return, they’re also generating RRSP contribution room. Maybe they can’t contribute right away, but at least they’re building room that could be used in later years.”

The Survival Guide also provides an examination of modern portfolio theory. Robert Ironside, of the online education firm Learning Dividends, explains the correlation between holdings and how to manage risk for clients through proper portfolio construction.

Finally, January marks the return of John Bowen as a columnist with Advisor’s Edge, after a hiatus of four years. His first column looks at how advisors can beef up their overall satisfaction level.

“A lot of advisors are unhappy with how much money they are making. Bowen looks at why that is and how they can improve their income,” says Gage. “This is an introductory column, but he will build on this theme in future columns.”

Filed by Steven Lamb, Advisor.ca, steven.lamb@advisor.rogers.com