Pershing Research Finds Investors Lacking Critical Information About Their Financial Well-Being

JERSEY CITY, N.J., April 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Albridge Solutions, Inc., an affiliate of Pershing LLC, a BNY Mellon company, today released a new white paper entitled, "Democratizing the Rate of Return: Real-time Portfolio Performance and Risk Reports for all Investors." Most notably, the research suggests that financial professionals are not providing investors with a comprehensive picture of their financial well-being.

According to the paper, when formulating a financial plan, an investor's current position is assessed, goals are set, an action plan is put into place and a quarterly report is produced providing investment performance against historical values, benchmarks and peers. However, these reports fail to tell investors how their investments and their personal inflows and outflows are performing in the face of market fluctuations and economic volatility. Investors are lacking an accurate and complete picture as to how, or even if, they are achieving their financial goals. 

"Investors are demanding greater information about their investments from their investment professionals and when that need is fulfilled, we find it actually increases investor confidence," said Gregory Pacholski, chief executive officer of Albridge Solutions. "The prevailing fear that providing investors with too much information in a down market will cause them to reconsider their investment is simply unfounded."

One primary goal of an investment professional is to manage as much of an investor's wealth as possible. According to the paper, by providing a personalized, comprehensive view of an investor's entire portfolio, investment professionals can make more informed and tailored decisions for each investor based on timely data. The data shows that as trust between the investor and advisor increases, an investor may allow management of a greater amount of household wealth.

Pacholski added "Providing investors with a holistic report of their investments could sound like a costly offering. Investment professionals need to know that there are cost-effective solutions on the market that provide customized data reporting, such as our Albridge solution, which provides investors with a personalized rate of return."      

The paper offers insights and strategies for investment professionals to gain and retain clients in this growing on-demand investing environment. Other key insights include the following:

• Investors are demanding more sophisticated, transparent, personalized performance data, regardless of portfolio size.
• Providing money-weighted return reports provides investors with a more accurate and complete investing tool, building a deeper level of confidence and trust.
• According to the 2010-2011 PNC Wealth and Values Survey, 74% of wealthy individuals want "greater transparency" from their financial institutions. Similarly, 77% of respondents said information and technology integration allows them to better manage their investments.

To obtain a copy of the white paper, Democratizing the Rate of Return: Real-time Portfolio Performance and Risk Reports for all Investors, visit www.albridge.com.

Albridge Solutions, an affiliate of Pershing LLC, is a leading provider of enterprise solutions, custom technology and business consulting services to institutional and retail financial organizations and independent registered investment advisors. Albridge draws upon its financial services experience and technology expertise to help financial organizations enhance their operating performance and maximize their productivity. Albridge's wealth management technology consolidates and reconciles client account information from hundreds of data sources that represent banking, brokerage, insurance, retirement, managed accounts and more.

Pershing LLC (member FINRA/NYSE/SIPC) is a leading global provider of financial business solutions to more than 1,500 institutional and retail financial organizations and independent registered investment advisors who collectively represent more than five million active investors. Located in 23 offices worldwide, Pershing and its affiliates are committed to delivering dependable operational support, robust trading services, flexible technology, an expansive array of investment solutions, practice management support and service excellence. Pershing is a member of every major U.S. securities exchange and its international affiliates are members of the Deutsche Borse, Irish Stock Exchange, the London Stock Exchange and the Australian Stock Exchange. Pershing LLC is a BNY Mellon company. Additional information is available at pershing.com.

BNY Mellon is a global financial services company focused on helping clients manage and service their financial assets, operating in 36 countries and serving more than 100 markets.  BNY Mellon is a leading provider of financial services for institutions, corporations and high-net-worth individuals, offering superior investment management and investment services through a worldwide client-focused team.  It has $25.8 trillion in assets under custody and administration and $1.26 trillion in assets under management, services $11.8 trillion in outstanding debt and processes global payments averaging $1.5 trillion per day.  BNY Mellon is the corporate brand of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE: BK).  Additional information is available on www.bnymellon.com or follow us on Twitter@BNYMellon.

SOURCE BNY Mellon