Advisor Online Behavior Studied in Wake of Market, Technology Changes: Kasina

New York, (October 26, 2009) — With the market turbulence of the last eighteen months, technology continuing to evolve, and advisor time stretched to the limit, understanding how advisors utilize the online environment to do their jobs is paramount for asset managers. Building upon its 2008 What Advisors Do Online study, kasina leveraged its partnership with Horsesmouth, an online advisor community and resource center, to survey 548 financial advisors regarding their online behavior. There were a number of questions to answer: What devices do they use to access information, content, and accounts? What websites do they visit, why, and how frequently? Which asset management public sites and advisor-dedicated sites do they like the best? What information do they look for most frequently on the web, and where do they expect to find it? And, do these answers differ depending on advisor age, assets, or channel?

In kasina’s latest study,”What Advisors Do Online 2009,” kasina sought to leverage its deep understanding of the needs of the advisor community and its Web expertise to identify the trends that should matter most to firms selling to financial advisors. In addition, the report takes a special look at what has changed in the last eighteen months, and looks at how advisors use social media today and may use it in the future.

Key findings include:

  • The last 18 months of turmoil have driven advisors online more, seeking business building and sales ideas, checking client information, and communicating with clients. More than half of advisors have increased online usage by 1-3 hours, a quarter by more than 3 hours per week;
  • Advisors call on a broad range of online resources, and spend only a small piece of their time at asset manager websites. Firms need to take proactive steps to engage advisors away from the firms’ home sites;
  • Online behavior and use of technology change depending on advisor channel, asset level, and age. For example, advisors aged 36-50 use Blackberries to access online content (not just e-mail) more than others, with 40% using and 10% planning to start.
  • While social media usage among advisors is not universal, there are signs that it is increasing, and that a wave of adoption is on the horizon. About 48% and 43% of advisors visit LinkedIn and Facebook, respectively.

Most asset management firms are very reliant on advisors as distributors and advocates for their products and brand. Therefore, firms need to be very informed regarding advisor behavior online. Mike Ma, kasina Principal, says,”With the market schizophrenia of the last eighteen months, advisors have been pulled to spend more time with clients, while at the same time needing more information and services from asset managers. Largely, advisors are coping with these increased demands by doing more work online, in a search for efficiency and time savings. This study gives a close look at how advisors strive to get what they want, when, how, where, and in what form they want it.”

For more information on the full report,”What Advisors Do Online 2009″, visit www.kasina.com

About kasina

kasina’s commitment to innovating distribution in the financial services and insurance industries has made it one of the most influential strategy consulting firms in its sector. kasina works with a wide variety of clients from five continents, including firms representing 90% of the U.S.’s total assets under management. An overview of services offered by kasina is available at www.kasina.com.