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Fee erosion coming?

Posted by Anu Heda on Jul 07, 2014, in Thoughts

I noticed two recent Ignites articles discussing fee reduction. The first cites BlackRock cutting fees on a lagging equity suite. The second cites John Hancock cutting fees on their advisor-sold 529 plan.

Obviously we don’t believe two data points forecasts a trend. Yet perhaps pricing is worth discussing again. Many prognosticators have predicted fee erosion and margin compression over the last decade. More important than their predictions, what do you think? Leave us a comment if you can.

MFEA Content Marketing – 5 Quick Tidbits

Posted by Anu Heda on Jul 05, 2014, in Thoughts , tagged with

During a humid June week in Kansas City (aren’t they all?), the MFEA convened a group of marketers from across the industry. I moderated a panel on content marketing and thought to share 5 points. We were fortunate to have three excellent panelists from Aberdeen Asset Management, American Century Investments, & RidgeWorth Investments.

  1. There’s not a unified definition for content marketing. Some associate the term with content-centric campaigns leading meant to increase Web site (or microsite) usage. Other firms define content marketing by building a content library to market (the firm) from.
  2. Everyone seemed to agree that infrequent high-quality content is better than the reverse.
  3. Most firms are investing or considering marketing automation software to simplify dissemination.
  4. All firms are modifying their content processes to account for the clear demand (by FAs) for brief content.
  5. Measurement continues to be nebulous. Metrics discussed went from Web traffic to lead generation even to asset growth.

Best Blogs of the Week

Posted by Anu Heda on Jun 23, 2014, in Best Blogs of the Week , tagged with , , , ,

Tremendous amount of discussion this week related to fixed income and thus that topic dominates. Overall, a good week for industry posts.

  • Columbia – Thought-out analysis on muni bonds
  • MFS – Only post relating economic issues to the current situation in Iraq
  • Natixis – Great introduction to bank loan products; worthy for any FA to consider (or reconsider) a product group
  • Russell – You know I enjoy myth busting and this post takes volatility head-on.
  • Wells Fargo –  A framework to analyze if high yield is overvalue

 

 

Best Blogs of the Week

Posted by Anu Heda on Jun 17, 2014, in Best Blogs of the Week , tagged with ,

We’re a week behind and looked at the last two weeks. And in reviewing all the posts, we found two excellent posts.

  • Oppenheimer – A straightforward post with an optimistic view of the global economy and the related net impacts.
  • Wells Fargo – A helpful post reiterating (more effectively than most) the impact from volatility on the equity markets.