FORWARD_ Women_And_Wealth

forwardInsight for Today’s Financial Professional
March 2014 ISSUE 4
Congratulations to the 2013
Award Winners!
See who won Practice of the Year,
Financial Representative of the Year, LEX,
and who qualified for the Hall of Fame
Women in Financial Services
• How Female Advisors and Clients
are Changing the Industry
• Tips to Acquire Female Clients

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If you have a question, comment, or idea for an article, please e-mail it (along with your contact information) to ForwardMag@jhancock.com.
Letter From the President
Brian Heapps, CLU®
, ChFC®

President of John Hancock Financial Network
In February, I published a video on The Junction that gave an update on our road to independence. I received many
responses supporting the direction we have been moving in and continue to move towards. While change is never easy,
the economic realities and ever-changing regulatory environment are proving that innovative thinking has never been
more in demand for our industry.
The headlines are full of stories focused on broker-dealers closing shop or the increased pressure from the DOL,
SEC, and FINRA to define “fiduciary standards” for providing investment advice to clients. We are committed to
leading through these changes and working with you to anticipate and respond in ways that help you sustain and
grow your business.
If we look at the consequences of other industry giants in recent history that failed to adapt to their surroundings,
they make for a pretty good argument that we must not stand still. The cautionary tales of companies like Borders vs.
Amazon, Blockbuster vs. Netflix, newspaper classifieds vs Craigslist, or Polaroid vs Digital Cameras bear this out. We
must keep our business model innovative, efficient, and forward-thinking, or risk being added to that list. We must
adapt to the new generation of clients and the technologies through which they communicate and conduct business.
We must also provide the resources and business model to attract new, experienced advisors while helping them find
the next generation of successors.
Signator will continue to make changes and improvements to its platforms, product offerings, and business structure.
We are excited for you to recognize the benefits of some of these changes when, for example, we launch the new
compensation system and e-file cabinet functionality. Along with technology, supervisory infrastructure changes like
our “Super OSJ” branch model will provide much desired flexibility in affiliation options, ranging from full service
branch advisors to fully independent advisors. These improvements, along with other enhancements, will help us
remain competitive.
We continue to evaluate the overall business structure, including the statutory employee model. While our roots at
the newly branded Signator broker dealer have a long history within John Hancock and the career system, the reality
is most advisors from that system have transitioned their principal business activity from selling life insurance and/or
annuity contracts primarily for John Hancock to a product mix with more wealth and non-proprietary products to best
serve their clients’ needs. Our business structure must evolve to reflect these changes.
We have supported this world class transformation with our open product architecture and ability to brand
independently. As a customer–centric organization, we will continue to support the growth of your business and the
needs of your clients—because we believe it is the right thing to do.
March | 2014
Letter From the President
Brian Heapps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
In Case You Missed It—New on The Junction. . . . .4
Female Advisors and Clients: How They’re
Revolutionizing the Financial Services Industry
Sara Sanford. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Practice Management
Crafting Your Dynamic Value Proposition
Steve Johnson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Protecting Your Client Data Has
Never Been More Important
Tom Horack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Products and Services
Six Tips for Acquiring Female Clients
National Financial Services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Establishing Appropriate Client Expectations
Keith Johnson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Fidelity Study Shows Men Driving Advisor
Relationships, Inadvertently Hindering
Spouses’ Preparedness
Fidelity Investments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Survey Shows Plan Sponsors Have Better
Results with Retirement-Focused Advisors
Tim Minard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Network News
2013 Award Winners. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
New Faces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
ACE15 Standings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

In 1967, Muriel ‘Mickey’ Seibert became the first woman to
own a seat on the New York Stock Exchange. She was the lone
woman among 1,365 members, and would remain the only
female there for the next ten years.1
Today, Janet Yellen presides as the first female head of the
Federal Reserve in its 100-year history. Women make up two-
thirds of the American workforce, women-owned businesses
represent trillions in economic activity, and—as noted in
the December issue of FORWARD—women today control
over 51% of the personal wealth in the United States. That
percentage is estimated to rise to 67% by 2020.
The majority of advisors and decision-makers in the financial
sector, however, are still men. Despite recent data showing that
women-owned hedge funds delivered an annual return of 9.06
percent compared with 5.82 percent among all hedge funds from
2000 to date, women make up a scant 10% of all traditional
mutual fund managers2
and fewer than 30% of all advisors.3
Attrition is chipping away at the number of female advisors at
a time when their complementary strengths and like-minded
perspectives on women’s wealth are in demand. Financial firms
and businesses that commit to recruiting and retaining female
advisors will gain a competitive edge over firms maintaining the
same demographics.
FORWARD reviewed recent research and interviewed some of
Signator’s leading female advisors to learn more about what
specific strengths women bring to their practices, what barriers
are keeping women from entering the financial services field,
and what advisors can do to recruit, retain, and develop women
as professional leaders in their practices.
The following advisors offered their insights on these topics,
and their profiles are available on page 9:
• Jagruti Panwala, President, Wealth Protection Strategies
• Jennifer Kim, MS, CFP®
, CMFC, ChFC®
, CLU®
, Partner,
Signature Estate Investment Advisers, LLC
• Beverly Wendt, CFP®
, Partner, Atlantic Partners
Financial Group
• Elizabeth A. Valenti, Vice President, Platinum Wealth
Solutions of Texas, LLC
• Jennifer L. Scroggins, Investment Adviser Representative,
Platinum Wealth Solutions of Texas, LLC
Women and the Window of Opportunity
Promoting women to financial leadership has proven to
boost the bottom line for several reasons. Recent reports and
interviews with Signator advisors highlighted the following
assets that female advisors bring to the table:
Demand From Female Investors Not only are women
controlling more of the wealth, female investors are more likely
than men to engage advisors (46% vs. 34%).4
To serve female
clients, however, advisors must demonstrate an understanding
of their particular financial planning needs. Women are living
longer than their male counterparts, inheriting more of the
wealth, and demanding more information on investment
strategies related to their children’s futures, such as college
planning. These different priorities mean female clients are
going to look for advisors that understand and relate to them.
“These clients are more relationship-oriented,” says Kim.
“They’re often more concerned with estate planning and setting
0185-20140213-175639
Recruiting Toolkit Launch
Building your business is just like building anything else—
in order to do it correctly, you need the right tools. With the
recruiting toolkits from Signator Investors, Inc., you have
helpful tools to recruit the right financial professionals to fit
your firm’s needs. Each recruiting toolkit focuses on a specific
value proposition or type of financial professional, so you can
deploy the right message and target it to the right audience.
(Available for Managing Partners and Firm Management only.)
Services Recruiting Recruiting Toolkits
New Practice Management Tools
Signator’s new Practice Management Program focuses on three
key areas; People, Process, and Technology. The program
is designed to help you manage and grow your business by
driving efficiencies and targeting the right clients for your
services. Learn how to unlock the full potential of your
business by becoming a better business owner.
Services Practice Management
Where Will You “B” in 2015?
It’s not too soon to be thinking about ACE15. Two amazing
trips are planned for May 2015—Platinum Qualifiers will
be headed to Barcelona to relax on the Mediterranean coast
while Gold and Silver Qualifiers will travel to Bermuda, an
island paradise in the Atlantic. Visit The Junction for more
information on these exciting destinations, how you can
qualify, and your current standings.
Recognition ACE15 Information
Introducing John Hancock’s
Enhanced Life Insurance Portfolio
John Hancock Life is on a roll with Accumulation IUL’s cash
value accumulation and retirement income potential. With
new rolling targets, it’s more competitive than ever. Visit The
Junction to learn more about the rolling targets on JH Life’s
Protection IUL and SIUL, Interest Crediting Rate Changes, and
the Enhanced Long-Term Care rider offering more coverage for
retirement planning needs.
News Events Product Info Introducing John Hancock’s Enhanced
Life Insurance Portfolio
SEI Private Advisor Transaction Portal Now Available
Signator Investors, Inc., in partnership with SEI, is revamping
our business workflow to streamline processes, increase
efficiencies, reduce errors, and ensure compliance with industry
regulations. The SEI Advisor Transaction Portal is a new tool
designed to provide you with a simple way to submit much of
your SEI business. Learn more on The Junction.
News Events CRIA SEI Private Advisor Transaction
Portal—Now Available
(Continued on next page)
MARCH | 2014
Female Advisors and Clients: How They’re
Revolutionizing the Financial Services Industry
Sara Sanford
In Case You Missed It—New on The Junction
The Junction is constantly being updated with new pages, tools, and content to help you run your
business. Here are some of the top new additions in recent months. If you haven’t yet had a chance,
log on to www.jhfnjunction.com and see what you’ve missed.
4”Women Advisors Critical to Future of Wealth Management, Yet
Remain Woefully Underrepresented Across the Industry, According
to New Pershing Study.” Yahoo! Finance. http://finance.yahoo.com/
news/women-advisors-critical-future-wealth-140000127.html
1”Remembering Muriel Siebert, an ‘Icon’ for women.” New York
Times. August 26, 2013. http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/08/26/
remembering-muriel-siebert-an-icon-for-women-2/
2”Advancing Women into Financial Leadership Boosts Bottom Line.”
Huffington Post. Linda Basch. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
linda-basch/advancing-women-into-fina_b_222744.html
3”To Profit, Financial Industry Needs More Women and Stronger
Relationships.” Huffington Post. Sasha Galbraith. http://www.
huffingtonpost.com/dr-sasha-galbraith/to-profit-financial-
indus_b_3353762.html

up a 529 plan for their children. We can often relate better, and
we become friends.” The relationships that female clients build
with female advisors place them in high demand.
Approach to Risk The Center for Financial Research at the
University of Cologne found that women managers tend to
take less extreme risks and adopt more measured investment
styles than their male peers. This suggests that women and men
working together have the potential to balance each other and
bring complementary talents to portfolio management.
Relationships In a field in which client loyalty is built on
trust, relationships are more important than ever, and female
advisors have been noted for their ability to relate to their
clients on both personal and professional levels. “The female
advisors in my office and I do take a lot of time to service our
clients. We’ve been criticized for spending more time than
the men doing this,” commented Wendt. “I actually become
their friend. I get invited to weddings, funerals, communions,
birthday parties, because I’m perceived as family.” Panwala also
noted, “I think women have an easier time gaining trust from
their clients. Clients will open up more, talk to me more about
their personal stories. I tell my husband often that I also feel
like their therapist—I engage myself with their stories about
their kids and their partners.”
Identifying the Barriers
To realize the full potential of female advisors, firms need
to understand one of the most common challenges faced by
women in finance: cultural barriers.
In a field in which women do not see themselves widely
represented, firms can speak with their actions by diversifying
their leadership and advisor populations. “It starts when
I make a phone call,” says Wendt, who has been in the
business since 1985. “‘Whose assistant are you? Who’s the
agent or representative you’re working for?’ I would always
get asked. Now I say, ‘What makes you think I’m a helper or
assistant?’ Then they get embarrassed and ask, ‘Are you the
representative?’ Things are better now, but there has been a
tremendous expectation that women cannot do this job.”
Closing the Gap
If you want to grow the number of women in your practice,
you can start by benchmarking your current situation: What
are your hiring goals? What steps are you taking to capture the
pluses of female advisors? Is recruiting and retaining female
talent part of your long range business plan?
(Continued on next page)
March | 2014
Female Advisors and Clients: How They’re Revolutionizing
the Financial Services Industry (continued)

Jennifer Scroggins is
an Investment Adviser
Representative at Platinum
Wealth Solutions of Texas,
LLC, an affiliate of Michigan
Financial Companies. She was
awarded the WIFS Angel Award
in 2007, served as President of
the 2010 San Antonio Women’s
Chamber, and hosted programs
for the Women’s President’s
Organization for female
business owners.
Jagruti Panwala is owner
and president of Wealth
Protection Strategies, an
affiliate of Keystone Financial
Management. She is a lifetime
member of MDRT, and is being
inducted into the Signator
Investors, Inc. Hall of Fame
this year.
Elizabeth Valenti is Vice
President of Platinum Wealth
Solutions of Texas, LLC, an
affiliate of Michigan Financial
Companies. She is a member
of MDRT, President-Elect of
NAIFA San Antonio, and a
former ambassador of the
Michigan Hispanic Chamber
of Commerce.
Beverly Wendt was inducted
into the Hall of Fame in
2012. She earned her CFP®
designation and is a graduate
of Hofstra University’s MS
program. She has also received
four Gold Level Awards, one
Super Achiever Award and
five Vincent C. Bowhers
Quality Awards.
Jennifer Kim, MS, CFP®
,
CMFC, ChFC®
, CLU®
, AIF, is a
Senior Associate for Signature
Estate and Investment Advisers.
She received her Bachelors
of Arts degree in Economics
from UCLA and is a Certified
Financial Planner practitioner.
She is a perennial ACE qualifier
and recently completed her
Masters degree in Personal
Financial Planning.
0185-20140220-176282
March | 2014
PRACTICE MANAGEMENT
Female Advisors and Clients: How They’re Revolutionizing
the Financial Services Industry (continued)
Bios:Some Starting Points:
Sponsor an Affinity Group Panwala and Kim both credit
much of their success to participating in associations of women
who want to deepen their understanding of investing and
financial management. Affinity groups can help firms attract
and retain female advisors. Scroggins, who has been in the
industry for 23 years, notes how isolating being a woman in
finance can be. “It’s still a very tough industry. It’s an industry
where you feel very alone. With it being male-dominated,
sometimes you’re really left out.” Affinity groups for female
advisors provide a comfortable opportunity to find mutual
support, network, and promote mentoring relationships.
Develop Female Talent Firms that provide high levels
of exposure to senior leaders and professional development
opportunities for promising women advisors attract and
retain more female talent. These three areas are essential for
recruitment and retention.
Mentoring Wendt recalls, “We had no mentorship. The men
on Friday went out for drinks and could network. They had a
mentorship and networking program, even if it was informal,
and they’ve pushed each other through. They didn’t have a
‘good ole girls’ network.” This tradition of mentorship, she
believes, still needs to be developed for female advisors today.
Scroggins also notes that mentorship is “essential for young
female advisors, especially in their first five years.”
Joint Work Opportunities Scroggins and Valenti both noted
that joint meetings and work opportunities provide the chance
for women to bring their complementary skills and abilities
to the table. Client meetings give them more experience with
clients and other advisors and improve the chances of building
successful client relationships. Valenti notes, “Often joint
meetings provide the opportunity to build a better relationship
with both partners, if we’re working with a couple. If I go to
an appointment with a male advisor, the wife would be making
eye contact with me and talking with me, and the husband
would be working with the male advisor. One is noticing
things that the other advisor isn’t seeing.”
Recognizing Female Leadership and Achievement
Companies that recognize women attract and retain them.
Panwala noted that Signator was outspoken about their
commitment in this regard, and that it made a difference when
they were recruiting her. “For women at Signator, it’s getting
better. They’re pushing the issue.” Wendt recounts the positive
remarks she received after delivering her acceptance speech for
the Signator Hall of Fame Award: “So many women came up to
me and said, ‘Thank you. We wanted to see a woman succeed.
We brought our daughters to hear your speech. I’m so happy
to hear a woman speaker. It resonates with me.’ One man came
up to me and said, ‘I brought my daughter. I wanted her to see
you.’” Women will gravitate to the firms that provide visibility
for their female talent.
Engaging and fostering female leadership requires a
commitment by you and your practice. In the first issue of
FORWARD, JHFN President Brian Heapps noted that the name
FORWARD was selected because it reflects our organization’s
focus on the future. From Muriel Seibert to Janet Yellen, women
have clearly stated their intentions and demonstrated their
abilities to be a part of the future of finance. At Signator, we are
proud to support firms who invest in recruiting, retaining, and
recognizing the women who will be a part of that future.
Sara Sanford is a Marketing Project Manager at Signator Financial
Services, Inc. She can be reached at ssanford@jhancock.com
or at 425-214-9609.

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