Building a Great Business Through Benchmarking
This section provides key benchmarking highlights, including overall profitability, client profitability, partner productivity, employee productivity, economic profitability measures, and growth rates.

• Most full-service brokers are interested in benchmarking due to limited access to competitor information
  
• A cross-market summary of client profitability reveals that fee-based financial advisors generate the highest revenues and earn the most income from each client
  
• The overall profitability of wirehouse, regional, & boutique broker/dealer brokers reveals that although brokers may receive a lower payout percentage, having their costs covered by the firm could lead to the highest compensation levels
  
• Three-quarters of brokers oversee less than $50 million assets under administration
  
• The average broker has about $53 million assets under administration, while the median asset level is half of the mean
  
• The average independent rep serves 169 clients per partner, manages $23 million assets under administration per partner, generates $278,000 revenues per partner, and earns $148,000 pre-tax profits per partner
  
• The average independent rep firm serves 64 clients per employee, manages $9 million assets under administration per employee, generates $107,000 revenues per employee, and earns $57,000 pre-tax profits per employee
  
• More than half of all independent reps earn between $75,000 and $150,000
  
• The average independent rep firm advises on $142,000 of assets per client; average client assets increase with rep firm size
  
• Half of all independent reps intend to sell their businesses upon retirement, with selling to an existing partner or employee being the most popular planned exit strategy
  
• The average fee-based financial advisor serves 206 clients per partner, manages $103 million assets under management per partner, generates $765,000 revenues per partner, and earns $287,000 pre-tax profits per partner
  
• Advisors who attend the college for financial planning report incomes twice as high as those who attend another CFP prep course
  
• The average fee-based financial advisor manages $500,000 assets under management per client, generates $3,697 revenues per client, and earns $1,567 pre-tax profits per client
  
• The average fee-based financial advisor interviewed manages $2.3 million in assets per client
  
• Two thirds of tax professionals offer their services on a commission only basis, and very few work on a fee-based basis
  

Building a Great Business Through Financial Advisor Firm Profiles

This section details key statistics of best practices profiles, including wirehouses, regional & boutique broker/dealers, independent reps, fee-only financial advisors, bank brokers, private bankers, CPAs & other tax professionals, estate attorneys & other lawyers, life insurance agents, third-party administrators, property & casualty insurance agents, real estate agents, and family offices.

• Hanson McClain’s Hanson McClain Retirement Planning has $1.3 billion assets under administration, up more than 1300% since 1996 and 60% since 2004
  
• Hanson McClain’s new business comes three-quarters from client referrals, most of which are a result of the firm's charity work
  
• Fisher Investments’ investment counselors, vice presidents, account executives, & client operations associates account for over one-half of its employees
  
• Fisher Investments manages $45 billion in assets, up 2,000% since 1997
  
• Fisher Investments’ Private Client Group manages $31 billion in assets, up 3,000% in the past ten years
  
• Fisher Investments’ Average Private Client Group account is $1.4 million, up from $1.2 million in 2006, with its core market being $1 - $3 million clients
  
• Fisher Investments’ Private Client Group retains nearly 100% of its client assets each year, up in 2007
  
• Fisher Investments’ Institutional group manages $14 billion in assets, up 1,500% in the past ten years
  
• Lasecke Weil nets almost 15% of its revenues, but expenses also include partners’ compensation
  
• Lasecke Weil primarily utilizes The Charles Schwab Corporation as its custodian; the firm also uses TD Waterhouse, Fidelity Investments, and other custodians to a lesser extent
  
• Legacy Wealth Management has almost 400 clients, up almost 100% since 1999 and eight fold since its founding in 1992
  
• Legacy Wealth Management generates almost $2.5 million in revenues, up 300% since 1999
  
• The Winthrop Corporation’s Wright Investors Service’s has $390 million mutual fund assets under management, an increase of over 50% since 2002
  
• Kanaly Trust has $2 billion assets under management, up a drastic 2,000 fold from $1 million at its founding in 1975
  

Financial Advisor Best Practices
This section draws key conclusions regarding benchmarking and best practices profiles of the financial advisor industry:

• In years of a bear market, choosing a financial advisor based on performance track record becomes of increased importance
  
• There is no single model for financial advisors’ success, but rather success appears to be achieved by having a defined strategy and employing systematic business processes in five areas, including determining clear target markets
  
• Successful financial advisors define business goals & develop written business plans, including utilizing economic measures, business documentation, succession plans, and financial advisor coaches