Sponsored by Raymond James
For example, a third of advisors (34%) say they expect to spend less time on human resources in 2017 relative to 2016, while 27% expect to spend less time training employees. By comparison, more than half of advisors surveyed expect to spend more time on client acquisition (56%), client meetings and services (52%), and marketing (51%).
There’s no escaping some responsibilities, however: More than two thirds (69%) anticipate spending the same amount of time on self-education, while 63% expect to spend the same amount of time on trading. However, trading is also the second-most common answer (28%) when RIAs are asked about which activities they expect to spend less time on this year relative to last. This data suggests advisors are having mixed success at delegating their trading—or perhaps have differing priorities in terms of where they feel they add the most value.
A focus on clients makes sense given that an overwhelming majority (80%) of advisors expect to rely on referrals in 2017. Other popular marketing techniques include client-focused strategies, such as client appreciation events (50%), social media (47%) and email campaigns (47%). The least popular marketing techniques include podcasts (7%) and mass media advertising (16%).
