Advisors Spend Half Their Time Delivering Core ServicesAdvisors Spend Half Their Time Delivering Core Services

Investment advisors often lament that they live in a world that’s always on, where there are no boundaries on time. They are right to wonder if they are spending their days in ways that best serve their clients. Is it better to try to be all things to all people, for example, or play to your professional strengths, even at the risk of paying less attention to some things that may matter to some clients? While the latest Rydex|SGI AdvisorBenchmaking report doesn’t answer that question, it shows the many demands on advisors’ time and how they manage it as well as the mix of services they offer.

The 2011 report revealed, for example, that advisors surveyed spend up to half their time on just three activities—portfolio management, client meet...