kasina Research Finds Asset Managers Continuing to Expand and Evolve Their Salesforces

NEW YORK, Sept. 29, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- kasina, a DST company providing data-driven insights and distribution solutions to financial companies around the world, today released the results of its 2015 Productivity Insights research.

According to the kasina study, the average asset management company's salesforce expanded by 8% from 2014. On average, firms added nine new salespeople to their teams, with hires primarily in internal and hybrid wholesaling and externals focused on the DCIO and RIA segments. 

These additions come at a time of significant change for asset management sales efforts, as in-person meetings with financial advisors are more difficult than ever to get and compensation models are evolving to better align salespeople with overall firm objectives.

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"The model for advisor-wholesaler interactions is changing," said Lee Kowarski, Vice President at kasina. "Asset managers are reporting that external wholesalers are holding fewer meetings per week in 2015 than 2014, requiring them to take steps to surround advisors with other types of support that enable them to have more impactful meetings."

A recent kasina report -- A Modernized Sales Team -- demonstrated that firms are rethinking practices that have been widely accepted for more than twenty years. New considerations include a greater recognition of the value of internal sales teams, as well as a more concerted focus on both the DCIO and RIA markets.

Average compensation for industry salespeople is slated to rise in 2015, primarily due to a continued predominance of gross sales-based commissions in compensation plans and a projected increase in gross sales per external wholesaler of 9% over 2014.

"The increase in gross sales has contributed to a roughly 10% increase in compensation for the average external," said Mr. Kowarski. "With many firms' net flows being challenged this year, we are seeing significant changes to compensation models across the industry.  While gross sales will continue to be a substantial portion of compensation, we found 61% of firms now factor net sales into their compensation plans, an increase from 30% in 2013."

Kowarski added: "To bring comp into greater alignment with performance, firms recognize they need to understand the average holding period of the advisors they do business with, and adjust sales force compensation to reward higher asset retention rates."

For the study, kasina surveyed 30 asset management firms, including most of the ten largest firms, on their current and future plans for compensation, staffing, team structure, expenses and activities for their sales force and national account teams. The firms surveyed had average intermediary assets under management of $135.3 billion.

Other key findings from kasina's Productivity Insights report include:

Sales Force:

• 64% of firms have RIA dedicated sales people, up from 47% in last year's report

• The average firm does business with 18% of the advisors in its CRM system

• National Accounts:

• 68% of firms have Research Analysts as part of their National Accounts team, up from 32% in 2014.

For more information on kasina's 2015 Productivity Insights research, contact Myra Bartalos, Head of Marketing, at [email protected].

About kasina
kasina helps leading companies in the financial services industry manage data, gain insight, and ignite change in their business. A wholly-owned subsidiary of DST Systems, kasina enables businesses to transform the way they grow market share through the use of data, research, and advanced analytics in the design, marketing, and distribution of their products. For more information on kasina's distribution intelligence technologies, advanced analytics and research, and strategic advisory services, visit www.kasina.com.

About DST
DST Systems, Inc. is a leading provider of sophisticated information processing and servicing solutions to companies around the world. Through its global enterprise, DST delivers strategically unified transactions and business processing, data management, and customer communications solutions to the asset management, brokerage, retirement, and healthcare markets. Headquartered in Kansas City, MO., DST is a publicly-traded company on the New York Stock Exchange. For more information, visit www.dstsystems.com.

Media Contact:

Laura M. Parsons 
DST Global Public Relations 
816.843.9087 
[email protected]

SOURCE DST Systems, Inc.

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