Headlines

  • Win at one-on-one

    Face time with a prospect is your most valuable time, so use it wisely. Many bank advisors excel in a one-on-one setting with new prospects -- others, simply, do not.

    Posted on: January 1, 2009
    By Brian Anderson

  • Solutions to the crisis

    What new and creative retirement income products are a hit in the bank channel? Will it be annuities, mutual funds, managed accounts or something completely different? We run through what's popular with bank advisors -- and their clients.

    Posted on: January 1, 2009
    By David Port, Writer

  • Make your trust department more profitable

    The merger between Indianapolis-based Union Federal Bank and Sky Bank in Bowling Green, Ohio, is an untold success story. It wasn't so much that Union Federal Bank had more than $3.5 billion in assets, 60,000 customers, and was one of the more profitable banks in the Midwest.

    Posted on: January 1, 2009
    By Doug Strott

  • Seminar success (without selling out)

    Believe it or not seminars still work. But with an increasingly cynical prospect base, how do bank advisors get the most bang for their buck?

    Posted on: November 1, 2008
    By David Port, Writer

  • Business-building technology that won't break the bank

    Throw out the Excel spreadsheets. It's a brave new world. Financial planning software tailored specifically to bank advisors is now available. Ignore it at your own peril.

    Posted on: November 1, 2008
    By Vanessa Drucker

  • Flight to safety

    Not everyone's losing out in the current market meltdown. Global turmoil means safe, fixed investments with guaranteed rates of return are all the rage.

    Posted on: November 1, 2008
    By Doug Mantelli & Jack Mishler

  • Dive into the multicultural economy

    Minority markets are growing very rapidly around the United States, and banks are one of the key places they are turning for advice.

    Posted on: October 28, 2008
    By John Sullivan, Editor

  • Revealing what small banks want

    Small banks offer a number of advantages for bank advisors over their larger counterparts. What are they, and what type of advisor is best suited to the business model?

    Posted on: September 1, 2008
    By Vanessa Drucker

  • The meaning of life (insurance)

    New products, streamlined underwriting and cutting-edge technology are now combining to revitalize life sales in the bank channel. Here's how savvy bank advisors can capitalize.

    Posted on: September 1, 2008
    By David Port, Writer

  • A variable boom in the bank channel

    Of the investment products available in the bank channel, variable annuities continue to dominate. Why do they do so well, what new features are particularly effective in meeting the needs of bank advisor clients?

    Posted on: July 1, 2008
    By John Sullivan, Editor

  • Morningstar's top 10 largest variable annuity contracts

    Variable annuities continue to be the investment product of choice in the bank channel. We teamed with Morningstar's variable annuity research division to report the largest variable annuity contracts by total assets.

    Posted on: July 1, 2008
    By BAM Staff

  • The separate account sweet spot

    The explosive growth in the SMA market has been tempered somewhat by recent economic uncertainty, but experts predict big things for the product.

    Posted on: May 6, 2008
    By David Port, Writer