Great Expectations 2016

The “Brokerage Report Card” (Investment Executive Newspaper) made its annual appearance in May and, as usual, there were some gains and losses for those corporations in the survey.  As with last year’s evaluation (see Great Expectations under “Articles” in Curry-Henry Group website) our focus is on specific categories in the Report Card which we feel have significant value to the everyday life of an Investment Advisor.  And within those categories we have referenced those companies who posted a ˂8 rating which in our estimation is a ranking begging for attention.

 

To be sure there are upticks and downticks in each category from one year to the next but, regardless a posted ranking of 5, 6 or 7 is what it is – bad!

 

 

Commentary

 

• We again feature 10 categories this year but, have eliminated the former “image” ranking in favour of the “promises delivered” category

 

• Within the 10 categories there are five companies who show at least five categories which rate a ˂8 ranking.  They are:

 

Canaccord (5) show a nice upward bounce versus that of last year when they had 8 in the ˂8 rankings.

 

NesbittBurns (10) hit every category which pretty much matched 2015’s performance.  Noticed their Branch Manager category went south this year  –  Hmmm?

 

National Bank Financial (6) also an uptick from 9 last year and several upticks within a number of categories – but still a bunch of ˂8’s.  I suspect the new National Sales Manager will fix this.

 

Scotia McLeod (8) down tick from last year (4) in the ˂8 rankings.  Maybe next year will improve having recently exited 60+ producers, Ya think?

 

T.D. Wealth (9) without a doubt this company leads the pack with the lowest scores in every category and with the exception of the Branch Manager rating, all others were either   < 6’s or <5’s.

 

In terms of the overall Report Card categories (30+) and significantly under the “average of IE ratings” these five corporations were all rated ˂8.  While the results posted under the Report Card are relevant to IA’s and ‘ suits’ alike it will become more difficult in the future to categorize that relevance.  Brokerworld is changing very rapidly in the “A” and “B+” levels:

 

• Payout–  production and asset bars are being lifted dramatically and the down elevator will be chock-a-block full of $500k producers in the very near future.  At a 20% p/o you either take a package, join Little Johnnie down the hall or head for the exit.

 

• Branch Mgm’t–  soon will be approaching a” thing of the past” status with more firms opting for a hub and spoke system whereby the manager, compliance manager and administrator are housed in one location to serve several branch locations.  A communication booster for sure, eh? 

 

• Succession/Retirement Planning–  outside of life under a Principal/Agent model (ie. Manulife and Ray Jay) the firm has total control in this area.  They’ve added benefits to those considering retirement so as to avoid any movement to the classic double-dip option.  After all, the assets are theirs.  Right?

 

• Culture–  rates pretty poorly amongst most of the ‘A’ level firms as the make-up of senior executives in the securities sector is more geared to those with no experience on the front line.  It certainly backs up the definition of the “employee” model.

 

There’s always a better way     –     Contact the Curry-Henry Group to find it!

 

Written by: Brian L.Curry, CEO, Curry-Henry Group (Copyright 2016)

“It’s a simple business but, it’s not easy”.