Wirehouse and Independent B/D-based Advisors Provide Key to DCIO Sales Success

Mid-tier Consultants Continue to Grow in Importance

November 1, 2011 - With the institutional DC market out of reach for mutual fund managers that lack the scale and ultra-low expenses necessary to compete for institutional mandates, the real focus of many DCIO sales efforts is the retail (less than $50 million plan) market. And, in this market, winning and losing is still very much determined by how competitive a firm is in the wirehouses and independent B/Ds. Today, more than $3 of every $5 flowing into asset manager coffers through their retail DCIO effort comes from wirehouse and independent B/D-based retirement advisors (those advisors who generate a substantial chunk of revenue from DC plans) and dabblers (advisors who manage a handful of DC plans).