ISS MI 2024

Advisor Pulse Series: Brand

U.S. RESEARCH

TOPICAL ISSUES

BI-MONTHLY SURVEYS

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©Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) 2024. Global Research & Advisory Solutions is an ISS Market Intelligence (ISS MI) brand. ISS MI is a division of ISS. All rights reserved.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

• SECTION 01 - Methodology
• SECTION 02 - Demographics
• SECTION 03 - Asset Management
• SECTION 04 - Alternative Investment
• SECTION 05 - Preferred Contact Channels
• SECTION 06 - Market Outlook Questions

METHODOLOGY

• ISS Market Intelligence conducted 903 interviews with financial advisors in May 2024.
• All respondents are Series 6 and 7 licensed financial advisors or state / SEC-registered RIAs.
• The study includes interviews with:
  • Wirehouse advisors from four firms, national in scope: Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, UBS, Wells Fargo Advisors
  • Regional advisors from other full-service firms, sometimes national in scope: e.g., Edward Jones, Stifel Nicolaus, RBC Capital Markets, etc.
  • Independent and Bank advisors from firms that provide securities transaction services, as well as banks and savings & loans: e.g., LPL, Ameriprise Financial, etc.
  • Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs)

QUESTIONS ANSWERED

• Which asset managers are perceived as having the best-in-class brand?
• Which are the most effective channels for conveying Asset Manager's brands?
• How does channel effectiveness vary by advisor type?
• What are the most important elements of the brand offering?
• How does my brand rank, compared to my competitors?
• How can I improve my brand's perception among advisors?
• What are advisor perceptions on non-insurer managers and sub-advisors?
• Do some advisor types prefer to use sub-advisors?
• Which are the most effective channels for conveying an Alternative Investment Manager's brands?
• What are advisor's preferred contact frequencies by channel?
• What are advisor's perspectives on individual asset classes?

ADVISOR RESPONDENT PROFILE

Channel

• 30% Wirehouse
• 50% Regional, Independent, Bank
• 20% RIA

Age

• 24% <40
• 39% 40-54
• 37% 55+

Gender

• 89% Male
• 11% Female

Work on a Team

• 53% Yes
• 47% No

Assets Under Management

• 7% $1B or More
• 11% $500MM to $999MM
• 20% $250MM to $499MM
• 29% $100MM to $249MM
• 32% Less than $100MM

Book of Business

• 41% Open end mutual funds
• 40% ETFs
• 18% SMAs

Portfolio Construction Method

• 54% Build and manage own models
• 35% Customize pre-constructed models from home office / platform or asset manager
• 12% Strictly adhere to pre-constructed models from home office / platform or asset manager

BRAND FAVORABILITY

What is your impression of the asset manager's brand within the industry?

Manager	Highly Favorable (7)	Favorable (6)	Somewhat Favorable (5)	Neither (4)	Less Favorable (1-3)	Net Score
Manager A (American Funds)	68%	20%	7%	4%	1%	+67
Manager B (Vanguard)	63%	21%	7%	6%	3%	+60
Manager C (JPMorgan)	53%	28%	12%	6%	2%	+51
Manager D (Fidelity)	53%	26%	11%	6%	3%	+50
Manager E (T. Rowe Price)	50%	30%	13%	6%	1%	+49
Manager F (First Trust)	47%	27%	15%	8%	2%	+45
Manager G (MFS)	46%	27%	16%	8%	2%	+44
Average	45%	29%	15%	9%	3%	+42
Manager H (Franklin Templeton)	43%	33%	16%	8%	1%	+42
Manager I (SSGA)	42%	33%	13%	10%	3%	+39
Manager J (PIMCO)	42%	30%	16%	9%	3%	+39
Manager K (Hartford Funds)	40%	31%	18%	9%	2%	+38
Manager L (BlackRock)	45%	25%	15%	8%	8%	+37
Manager M (John Hancock Inv Mgt)	38%	35%	15%	10%	2%	+36
Manager N (First Eagle)	38%	30%	20%	10%	2%	+36
Manager O (PGIM Investments)	38%	30%	19%	11%	2%	+36
Manager P (MSIM)	40%	28%	16%	10%	5%	+35
Manager Q (Goldman Sachs)	37%	33%	18%	8%	3%	+34
Manager R (Janus Henderson)	36%	34%	17%	10%	2%	+34
Manager S (Columbia Threadneedle)	35%	31%	20%	11%	3%	+32
Manager T (Charles Schwab)	36%	30%	17%	12%	6%	+30
Manager U (Lord Abbett)	33%	37%	20%	8%	3%	+30
Manager V (Invesco)	33%	34%	20%	9%	4%	+29
Manager W (Federated)	32%	26%	24%	16%	3%	+29
Manager X (Nuveen)	32%	35%	18%	9%	5%	+27
Manager Y (BNY Mellon)	29%	29%	24%	16%	2%	+27
Manager Z (Natixis)	30%	38%	16%	12%	4%	+26

The full report includes individual manager names.

HOW IMPORTANT IS BRAND?

How important is an asset manager's brand when you are recommending products to your clients?

Overall:

• 26% Extremely Important (7)
• 31% Important (6)
• 25% Somewhat Important (5)
• 13% Neither (4)
• 5% Less Important (1 to 3)

The full report includes a breakdown by advisor type.

HOW CAN ASSET MANAGERS IMPROVE THEIR BRAND PERCEPTION?

Theme	Selected Open-Ended Advisor Feedback
"Ethical Standards"	[Detailed advisor feedback - available in full report]
"Community Involvement / Social Responsibility"	[Detailed advisor feedback - available in full report]
"Consistency"	[Detailed advisor feedback - available in full report]
"Service / Support"	[Detailed advisor feedback - available in full report]
"Transparency / Trust"	[Detailed advisor feedback - available in full report]

The full report includes detailed feedback from advisors.

WHAT IS INSIDE THE FULL REPORT?

Section 1: Asset Management

This section covers Asset Managers across the industry, looking at brand perception, between Advisor types. We rank brand attributes, and benchmark brands by a selection of the highest-ranking attributes. The final part of this section of the report outlines Advisor's suggestions for improving brand perception.

Section 2: Alternative Investment Managers

This segment covers Alternative Investment providers and details brand perceptions across Advisor types. We discuss brand perception rankings and channel effectiveness. This section of the report also delves into advisors thoughts on improving brand perception.

Section 3: Market Outlook

This chapter offers a deep dive into perceptions of market outlooks provided by firms. It details Advisor's preferred delivery methods and frequency.

Section 4: Asset Class Perspectives

This final part of the report delves into Advisor's sentiment on various asset classes. The time series shows how these perspectives have changed in the recent past and provides the data for providers thinking about changing trends across asset classes.

ABOUT ISS MARKET INTELLIGENCE

ISS Market Intelligence (MI) is a leading provider of data, insights, and market engagement solutions to the global financial services industry. ISS MI empowers asset and wealth management firms, insurance companies, distributors, service providers, and technology firms to assess their target markets, identify and analyze the best opportunities within those markets, and execute on comprehensive go-to-market initiatives to grow their business. Clients benefit from our increasingly connected global platform that leverages a combination of proprietary data, powerful analytics, timely and relevant insights, in-depth research, as well as an extensive suite of industry-leading media brands that deliver unmatched market connectivity through news and editorial content, events, training, ratings, and awards.