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INNOVATION
& DESIGN Home Page Architecture Brand Equity Auto Design Game Room SMALLBIZ Smart Answers Success Stories Today's Tip INVESTING Investing: Europe Annual Reports BW 50 S&P Picks & Pans Stock Screeners Free S&P Stock Report SCOREBOARDS Hot Growth 100 Mutual Funds Info Tech 100 S&P 500 B-SCHOOLS Undergrad Programs MBA Blogs MBA Profiles MBA Rankings Who's Hiring Grads | | JULY 6, 2000 SMART ANSWERS In Search of High-End Investors How can a financial adviser add the right names to his little black book?
Q: I am a registered investment adviser offering, among other investments, tax-free municipal bonds. Where can I obtain the best lead list of qualified investors? --M.B. A: You can go to any number of list "brokers" -- companies that sell names and contact information for potential buyers in many categories. The more minutely a lead list is qualified and specialized (by income, Zip code, buying preferences, etc.), the more expensive it will be. You should be able to buy lists of "accredited" investors, meaning people who have had annual incomes above $250,000 for three years or a net worth over $1 million. You may even find lists of people who already own tax-free investment instruments. The problem with these kinds of lists, however, is that the contacts on them likely already have trusted investment counselors in place. What you're really looking for is a database of wealthy people interested in investments beyond bank CDs who don't already have an adviser. That would be a valuable gem and unlikely to be for sale anywhere. These compilations of leads (known in industry terminology as "the book") are the salesperson's most valuable asset, a closely held secret that a mentor hands down to a protege when he or she retires. Compiling your own book will take considerable research and diligence, experts say. You can start by buying brokered lists from a general site. Try www.infoUSA.com, which has a database of over 207 million customizable records on businesses and consumers; the Direct Marketing Assn., at www.the-dma.org; Target Marketing Magazine, at www.targetonline.com; or the American List Counsel, at www.amlist.com. You can also visit a specialized site that targets financial salespeople. You should be able to find some in the classifieds section of an industry publication called Registered Representative, available at www.rrmag.com. DO-IT-YOURSELF? Scott Bailey, president of Bailey Marketing Concepts in Irvine, Calif., suggests that you purchase subscription lists for magazines that appeal to high-income readers. Other experts recommended that you contact New York-based list broker Edith Roman (www.edithroman.com). Another avenue that might prove fruitful would be targeting the "third-party influencers" who have contact with the wealthy individuals you're looking for: accountants, bankers, lawyers, and other financial planners that you can locate through industry groups. Or use the public information that abounds on the Internet to find prospects yourself. Sam Parker, co-founder of justsell.com, a sales and marketing Web portal and consultancy based in Fairfax, Va., recommends searching Securities & Exchange Commission filings at the SEC Web site (www.sec.gov). "When company insiders sells stock in a public company, they have to file a notice of intentions to sell their shares. This notice is called a Form 144 filing, and it is public record," Parker explains. "If you search for 144 filings, you're likely to find people who are coming into a lot of money that they may be interested in investing tax-free." At Yahoo.com, you can search for stock quotes on publicly held companies and view detailed charts on insider trades that also may be helpful, Parker suggests. "These people may already have relationships with financial advisers," he says, "but if you search on smaller, lesser-known companies, it might be worth a try." Why not? Have a question about running your business? Ask our small-business experts. Send us an E-mail at smartanswers@businessweek.com, or write to Smart Answers, BW Online, 46th Floor, 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020. Please include your real name and phone number in case we need more information; only your initials and city will be printed. Because of the volume of mail, we won't be able to respond to all questions personally.  By Karen E. Klein  | | |
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