But Advisor Plan Engagement Remains Disappointing
The bank-based firms that reported their financial planning activity in this year’s Kehrer Group Benchmarking Survey had an average of 37 active planning clients per advisor. While that represented a robust increase of 28% over the reported total last year, it still amounted to engaging with only 3 clients a month on average.
More than one-third of those planning clients had been engaged in planning just this past year, suggesting that we will continue to see robust growth in advisor planning activity. On the other hand, the numbers indicate that, on average, bank-based advisors engaged with only 23 clients whose plans were created in prior years. That’s engaging with only two continuing clients a month on their plan.
The average advisor in this year’s benchmarking survey had 529 clients. So, the average client plan penetration rate is only 7%. How many clients should have a plan?
Last year’s increase in advisor planning activity was driven largely by advisors in both the larger and smaller banks, who doubled their average plan engagement. Credit unions, which had the highest number of active planning clients per advisor in 2023, maintained their plan productivity during 2024, but were surpassed by the advisors in the larger banks.
The planning activity numbers reported in our benchmarking survey are lower than most directors of bank-based advisors are looking for. But they also represent a fraction of the 183 firms that provided benchmarking data. Many firms tell us that they do not track their advisors’ planning activity. Perhaps more tracking would encourage more advisors to engage with more clients about financial planning.
At our virtual study group this week, we’ll be taking a deep dive into the things that directors of bank-based advisors are trying to encourage advisors to embrace financial planning in their practices, and which are working. We’ll be drawing on Kehrer Group research sponsored by Raymond James, and the collective experience of the study group participants. You can join the conversation.