IMCA Investor Research: High Expectations for Advisors

Boston, MA (PRWEB) May 06, 2014

Today's investors expect financial advisors to earn and maintain professional credentials beyond minimum licensing requirements, according to new research involving more than 1,200 investors from across the United States.

The study finds 62 percent of investors believe it is important or critical that their financial advisor maintain voluntary certifications, and 65 percent value certifications issued by an objective, nonprofit, third party.

And those results don't just apply to established, experienced investors. Younger investors, so-called "millennials," ages 18?29, are even more demanding, with 84 percent citing the importance of voluntary certifications above minimum requirements.

The findings are based on a set of custom questions asked on behalf of Investment Management Consultants Association® (IMCA®) as part of Advisor Impact's 2014 "Economics of Loyalty Research."

IMCA provided questions for the Advisor Impact study, which polled 1,200 investors with a margin of error of +/- 2.8 percent.

"This is the latest in a long line of consumer research to foretell rising client expectations, particularly among millennials," said Sean Walters, CEO of IMCA. "But it's one of the first surveys in our industry to rank the most important criteria for advisor credentials, including which knowledge competencies are most valuable."

Across a range of questions, investors 18?40 consistently cite the importance of advanced, voluntary credentials more often than other age groups.

Once earned, 81 percent of investors believe is important or critical that advisors maintain their credentials. And 59 percent believe the most valuable advisor competency is in investment management, followed by competency in holistic financial planning, sought by 22 percent of investors.

Established in 1985, IMCA is a nonprofit professional association and credentialing organization with more than 9,400 individual members. IMCA members collectively manage more than $1.9 trillion, providing investment consulting and wealth management services to individual and institutional clients. Since 1988, IMCA has offered the Certified Investment Management Analyst® (CIMA®) certification, which earned accreditation by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) in April 2011, making it the first financial services credential in the United States to meet international standards (ISO 17024) for personnel certification. IMCA's Certified Private Wealth Advisor® (CPWA®) certification is suited for wealth management professionals working with high-net-worth clients. In 2013, IMCA conferences and workshops hosted more than 4,000 attendees.

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