We had the opportunity to work with an institution that was very, very rural (more than 100 miles from any major city), and wanted to start and become successful at the investment business. Recruiting an experienced advisor would be difficult, and the bank staff had no knowledge in this area. After some significant consultation with our staff, a combination dual-employee/platform model emerged - a model that would rely heavily on training, tracking, and executive level involvement.

The result was a high-functioning investment division of this bank that grossed in excess of $450k in its first year of operation. Today that institution produces revenue over twice that amount - in a setting no other investment firm had ever even thought to serve.

A regional bank has a perplexing problem - it was in an affluent market, had a group of wire-house trained advisors, spent heavily on promotion, but was not getting anywhere near the results hoped for. Again, through a process of active engagement and consultation, a staff member of USAdvisors Network put together a business development plan that made several subtle changes to the tactical operating processes at the bank (particularly in the area of referral generation), and targeted considerable efforts at re-training the advisors to adapt to the bank environment they were now a part of. Lastly, a training program for senior management was instituted that taught them the proper ways to support and fuel the success of the investment program.

Within months, the bank’s investment program saw revenues climb over 40 percent, with almost no incremental expense. Further, the program and advisors became far more integrated with the institution, and the program has become a gem amongst the bank non-core business units.

USAdvisors Network has worked with scores of banks and hundreds of bank-based advisors over the years. One simple truth has emerged - that no one model or strategy has worked well at all community or regional banks. In fact, there is almost an infinite combination of factors that ultimately lead to investment program success, and just as many ways to organize this business to succeed - or to fail.