FINANCIAL CONSULTANT CHAMPIONS OF SAVINGS MANAGEMENT

Bluerating | June 2024

Financial advisors have always been the champions of managed savings, they were the first to propose mutual investment funds when no one in Italy knew about them.

The asset management industry owes a lot to financial consultants and the world of financial consultancy has also been able to grow thanks to asset management companies.

The possibility of accessing the financial markets in a democratic way with shares proportional to the size of one’s savings has allowed millions of Italians to benefit from benefits once reserved only for the wealthiest individuals through their stockbrokers.

Even today, fifty years after the birth of financial consultancy in Italy, the success of many asset management companies largely depends on the networks that distribute their products.

The success of financial consultancy networks starts from three moves that have always characterized the professionals who work there:

First move, act and be proactive, call and meet existing customers and try to win new ones, daily.

Second move, listen to customers, ask them about their life plans, help them focus them better by giving them a time horizon.

Third move: transform savers’ projects into objectives and objectives into investment solutions, mutual investment funds first and foremost.

To carry out these three moves there must be a convergence of interests of all the protagonists: savers, financial advisors and banks.

And it is precisely this convergence of interests that has characterized and continues to characterize the world of financial consultancy. 

76% of customers followed by a financial advisor are completely satisfied compared to 48% of those who have a non-dedicated manager.

The financial advisors themselves are much more satisfied with their work and the relationship with their bank, compared to their counterparts who work in banks (58% vs. 26% who are completely satisfied).

The CEOs and general managers of the main banking and insurance groups who are fortunate enough to have one or more financial advisor networks within them consider their positioning strategic in 100% of cases, twenty years ago it was less than 25%.

Reading the business plans of the main banking groups, it is clear that their growth is inextricably linked to the ability to offer valuable financial advice, primarily through savings management.

The most far-sighted bankers who are not fortunate enough to be able to count on their own network of financial consultants are reorganizing and acting on the front line of bank managers following the same logic as the world of consultancy, i.e. acting on employee motivation and customer satisfaction.

It is highly probable that within the next two years some important banking groups will strengthen their structure by building or participating in the creation of a network of financial advisors.

The secret to creating a first line of financial managers and consultants capable of realizing that alchemy capable of transforming lead into gold, that is, money into a tool for achieving the life plans of their clients, lies precisely in motivation and involvement of your team.

It is a fact that the number of local meetings and conventions in which the top managers of the main banks personally participate has grown by 34% in the last two years.

Nicola Ronchetti