TIBURON MP SAYS U.S. INVESTABLE ASSETS POISED TO BOOM BY 2010: The U.S. market for consumer wealth is poised to triple by 2010, making it a great time to be in the financial advice business, according to the managing partner of market research and strategy consulting firm Tiburon Strategic Advisors.
Today’s $17.1 trillion in investable assets will increase to over $30 trillion by 2010, due to the pending liquefaction of consumer wealth, predicted Tiburon managing principal Chip Roame. Roame’s remarks were made at Tiburon’s semi-annual CEO Summit, held recently in San Francisco. Those 108 million U.S. households also hold $7.5 trillion in retirement plan assets.
He noted that the playing field is crowded, with over 400,000 financial advisors competing for a piece of the action. Banks and full-service brokerage firms, which each control close to $6 trillion, currently dominate those assets.
But Roame added that independent advisors may gain substantial share in this decade, much as full-service brokers did in the 1980s and discount brokers did in the 1990s, by using a series of strategies — not giving up on mutual funds, participating in the fee-accounts trend, and expanding product and service offerings to better address the needs of aging Baby Boomers.
Roame also predicted that wealth management services may pass investment management services in importance as Boomers age, and that targeted marketing and service strategies may be increasingly critical to success.
KELLY ESTABLISHES STUDENT SCHOLARSHIPS: Kelly Financial Resources, a business unit of global staffing provider Kelly Services Inc., is providing student interns the opportunity to compete for three individual scholarship awards totaling $5,000 through its Future Financial Professionals Program.
Future Financial Professional interns, who are placed on temporary assignments nationwide with Kelly’s industry partners, are invited to compete for scholarships by submitting essays on a contemporary financial topic selected by a panel of judges. Financial professionals at Kelly will judge the essays and select an overall winner and two runner-up awardees in the fall.
Established last year, Kelly’s Future Financial Professionals Program helps connect entry-level finance students with job and internship opportunities at financial institutions across the U.S. For further information on the Future Financial Professionals Program, visit
BLANDIN NAMED PRESIDENT, CEO OF ITP: The board of the Investor Protection Trust appointed Don M. Blandin as president and chief executive officer of the Washington-based investor education organization.
Blandin, a nationally known expert on investor education who previously served as president of the American Savings Education Council, began his term in June.
“I am honored and excited to be part of this important organization,” said Blandin. “Raising the level of financial awareness and responsibility is a challenging task, but we have a terrific opportunity to make a difference through the IPT. We will be smarter about how we provide investor information so that it will motivate individuals to learn and utilize their new money management skills, and we will collaborate and coordinate our efforts with other organizations that share our mission of raising the level of financial literacy and investor protection.”
HERBST TO OVERSEE FPA LEARNING PROGRAM: Bob Herbst, formerly of the American College, recently joined the Financial Planning Association as director of learning. In his new role, Herbst will oversee career development, professional development, and the FPA’s online learning initiatives, including the Virtual Learning Center.
Prior to coming aboard at the FPA, Herbst served as the executive director of the National Association of Estate Planners and Councils, as well as the executive director of external affairs for the American College’s Center for Distance Learning, which he also co-founded. He was an instructor in the American College’s Master of Science in Financial Services program, and currently serves on the faculties of LaSalle University and Penn State University, teaching a variety of professional development and team communication programs.
