If you’re ever at an industry event with Barbara March in attendance, find a way to sit at the same table (trust us on this). Her unique viewpoint and deep experience make for a fascinating discussion, and she’s one heck of an entertaining conversationalist.
“The reasons the industry is experiencing so much change, obviously, is the regulatory and economic climate, and the fact that demographics and consumer behaviors are changing, which is breeding the emergence of fintech and private equity,” March, CEO of management consulting firm BridgePoint Group, recently said.
In some cases, advisors are perceiving their role as increasingly marginalized as a result. They’re seeing it get narrower, “and they’re trying to do more innovative things in smaller areas.”
Managed accounts are an example. They perceive their role as “I am an investment advisor and my role, because of passive strategies, is changing.”
However, other advisors are perceiving this disruption as an opportunity to get broader, she noted, “so there’s almost a barbell thing going on, where some advisors are painting themselves into a corner. Others are leaning into it, and saying, ‘At the end of the day, Americans still need to retire.’”
Another trend she’s seeing is that home offices are much more involved.
Part of that is regulatory, but they’re recognizing that advisors—and the information and education they need to be credible—are changing as well. It’s forcing a market for servicing advisors that she and her team have not seen in the past.
“We’re financial services, and specifically, retirement experts,” she explained, when asked about BridgePoint specifically. “Our model is different than most consultants, because everybody who works at Bridgepoint has 20 to 30 years of line management experience working for major financial institutions.
“What is it that we help our clients do? We help them grow their businesses by having them figure out how to meet the needs of Americans as they’re looking to retire.”
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
