2025 Outlook from Robert Albertson

January 15, 2025Posted inUncategorized
From my friend Robert Albertson’s crystal ball. No comments from me, because I largely agree with what he is saying. Auctions optimism with emphasis on Cautious...Anat Bird My outlook for banks and financials in 2025 can be summed up as one of cautious optimism.  While the market has expressed premature ebullience over Trump’s election, which definitely included strength in financial stocks, there are many loose and important ends still buried in uncertainties.  A sea change…

THE WEALTH BUSINESS – PART ONE

September 11, 2024Posted inUncategorized, Wealth Management
Last week, our forum season started with the CFO group. One topic that was of interest to all was the wealth business. It’s a fee-income business with outstanding customer loyalty (average attrition is only 5%, and many enjoy a 2-3% attrition). It is subject to market vagaries, which is unfortunate, but overall, it can be very attractive. Unfortunately, the business has a few major problems: ·                     Most strong wealth advisors are poor salespeople, so organic growth…

A Reminder: What Customers Really Want – The Definition of Top-Notch Service

June 19, 2024Posted inOperations, Uncategorized
Customer Experience has become a term of art in our business, as well as in many others. Banks have whole departments and senior executives dedicated to perfecting that experience from inception, the first time a prospect contacts the bank through any channel, until the relationship's conclusion, hopefully, many years later. Banks have spent billions of dollars on Customer Experience, largely on technology, in an effort to reduce friction points and make all bank interactions easier.…