Client Focus Key to Keeping a Competitive Edge

An unwavering commitment to the client and a willingness to embrace new technology tools will serve advisors well in a challenging, fast-changing regulatory environment, Raymond James' President and COO Chet Helck told the audience at Wednesday's opening session of the RJFS National Conference in Las Vegas.

Ongoing Post-Madoff regulatory reforms that hold advisors to higher, more uniform standards may be disruptive at times, making putting client interests first a top priority for advisors and for organizations such as RJFS that serve them, Helck said. Client focus "will be paramount. That's why CRM is such a valuable tool. None of us can predict how this will play out. So my message to you is, 'Don't limit what you can offer clients.'"

Helck pointed out that Raymond James has always been considered a growth-oriented company. With 90 percent of its assets being held by clients 55 years or older, however, he encouraged advisors to position themselves as experts in strategies that emphasize protecting and growing assets.

"Once they've retired, they spend money, and every firm in the industry knows it," Helck explained. "The problem is that clients see you as a growth company and the banks are helping them spend it. Your job is to make sure the money is coming into the accounts and help them spend it. This isn't optional. It's huge."

Consequently, Helck outlined a new tool in the offing that will help RJFS and its advisor network compete with banks. "We're competing in a market of giant banks, but we have a bank and collateral in securities with these banks. We plan to have an attractive offer for clients in the fall [of 2011] that will put you in a competitive environment." That's likely a reference to a new Securities-Based Lending program that RJFS plans to unveil later this year.

The company's new Desktop technology is also part of the redoubled client-first effort, with system integration the theme. Said Helck: "Seventy percent of you told us Investor Access reduced your workload, and we rolled out a new home page last week while investing in technology, so you can expect a big leap forward."

Amid all the regulatory reforms, many firms are in the process of redefining themselves. But for Raymond James, that's not necessary, concluded Helck. "Our clients already come first. We're not a distribution system, so we don't have to change our business model or re-create ourselves. We won't say reform won't bring more costs and changes, but we'll be at the forefront."