The document summarizes the results of a survey of Advisor Relations professionals about trends in advisor relations programs. It finds that advisor relations team sizes and budgets continue to grow significantly year-over-year across all types of service providers. While information sharing has increased, providers need to better tailor their messages and content to the specific needs of advisors, analysts, and clients. The most successful programs are those that invest most heavily in building awareness, understanding, trust and advocacy among advisors.

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2. © 2016 Information Services Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The Evolving State of Advisor
Relations Programs
Paul Reynolds

3. © 2016 Information Services Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved 33
Agenda
 Research methodology and demographics
 Advisor Relations team sizes
 Advisor Relations budget trends
 Advisor Relations strategy
 Targeted information for the Third Party Advisory community

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Survey Methodology
Who: Advisor Relations professionals
What: 15-minute online survey
When: Completed in August 2016
Why: Internal planning
Results: 45 companies participated, 88 individuals
75% company response rate

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As service providers invest in the channel, team sizes continue to expand globally
Advisor Relations Team Size

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Advisor Relations Industry
60Service Providers
199Advisor Relations
professionals
Across There are

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2016 Team Size Projections (last year’s results)
Large Western
Heritage
Small Western
Heritage
Large Indian
Heritage
Small Indian
Heritage
3.3
4.9
0.8
2.0
5.5
8.8
1.6
3.3
2013 2016e

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2016 Projected Team Sizes vs. Actual Team Sizes
Large Western
Heritage
Small Western
Heritage
Large Indian
Heritage
Small Indian
Heritage
3.3
4.9
0.8
2.0
5.5
8.8
1.6
3.3
2013 2016 actual
8.8
4.8
1.8
2.4
2016e

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Teams in 2017 to Reach Expectations
Large Western
Heritage
Small Western
Heritage
Large Indian
Heritage
Small Indian
Heritage
3.3
4.8
0.8
1.8
5.5
8.8
1.6
2.4
2013 2017e
9.8
6.3
2.2
2.9
2016

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Variances in 2017e Advisor Relations Team Size
Large Western
Heritage
Small Western
Heritage
Large Indian
Heritage
Small Indian
Heritage
1.0
15.0
1.0
5.0
6.0
14.0
1.0
7.0
Min Avg Max
6.3
2.2
9.8
2.9

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Growth in Global Advisor Relations Team Size
Large Western
Heritage
Small Western
Heritage
Large Indian
Heritage
Small Indian
Heritage
+56% +50% +60% +50%
Growth is from 2016 to 2017
53% +2.6
of companies will
expand their Advisor
Relations teams in
2017
is the average
FTE increase
among those that
will expand
+3.8 +2.3 +2.0 +1.9
% Will Grow
FTE Growth
Average

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Expansion by Geography
1.5
0.6
0.4
USA
EMEA
Asia Pacific
+2.6
is the average
FTE increase
among those that
plan to expand

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2017 Planned Expansion by Company Type
Americas EMEA AP Global
Large Western 2.6 1.0 0.2 3.8
Small Western 1.5 0.5 0.3 2.3
Large Indian 1.0 0.7 0.3 2.0
Small Indian 0.6 0.4 0.9 1.9
+2.6
is the average
FTE increase
among those that
plan to expand

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As team sizes grow, budgets are increasing accordingly to help enable their success
Advisor Relations External Spending

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External Spending on Advisor Relations
Large Western
Heritage
Small Western
Heritage
Large Indian
Heritage
Small Indian
Heritage
$773K $433K $1.6M $398K
$685k
Average external spend
on Advisor Relations
programs in 2016
25%
75%
25%
75%
0%
100%
25%
75%
Average
Spending
Below $100K
Above $100K

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Expected Increases in External Spending
Large Western
Heritage
Small Western
Heritage
Large Indian
Heritage
Small Indian
Heritage
45% 78% 60% 60%
Growth is from 2016 to 2017
60%of companies will increase their
external Advisor Relations spending
in 2017
+28% +24% +13% +18%
% Will
Increase
Average
Increase

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Drivers for Investment
Open-ended question grouped into these categories
8%
8%
10%
10%
10%
15%
19%
35%
Expansion into new regions
Increased focus on large deals
Inc understanding of our capabilities
Seek more strategic engagement
Support corporate growth initiatives
Seek increased interaction levels
Invitation rate
Channel Commitment

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Drivers for Investment
“…executive understanding of the value of this strategic channel …”
“…greater alignment of our strategic direction with the influence of advisors…”
“…the organization's awareness of the importance of the TPA channel as a source of new
business opportunities and as a mean to a structured approach to renewals…”
“…we're seeing more impact and plan to invest accordingly…”
“…investment in staying top of mind for the advisor community, more opportunity for invites,
better win rates and the ability to understand where and how best to win with the advisor
community…”
Select open-ended responses

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Changes in Types of Services Purchased
(39%) Advisor access and education (briefings, workshops)
Relationship building events (dinners, events)
(36%) Databases/ market data/ research subscription
(6%) Sales support and training (methodology training)
(4%) Industry awards, reprint rights to published reports
(3%) Sponsorship of TPA sponsored events
(3%) Custom research / consulting projects
18%
41%
58%
22%
69%
47%
17%
Percent increasing
their budget for these
services
Sorted in order of how budgets are allocated (Source: 2015 ISG Advisor Relations Industry Research)
Not shown: (7%) Attendance at industry conferences (IAOP, SIG)
Budget
Allocation Budget Items

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Service providers invest in the third-party advisory channel to improve invite and win rates
Return on Investment

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Awareness Framework
Awareness
Familiar, need
more info to
consider for a deal
Understanding
Know well, can ID
appropriate deals
for them
Trust
I feel comfortable
inviting them to
a deal
Advocacy
Proactively
recommend them
to my clients
“Trust is not a matter of technique, tricks or tools but of character.
It is built and maintained by many small actions over time.”1
1Inc. Magazine

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Advisor Relations Strategic Approach
TeamSize
External Spending
+
+
-
-
Investing
Trailing
Willing
Trying
54% - 38%
21% - 5%
76% - 56%
36% - 11%
47% - 26%
13% - 3%
48% - 25%
11% - 3%
Source: 2015 ISG Advisor Awareness Framework Research results
Awareness Understanding
Trust Advocacy

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Advisor Relations Strategic Approach
TeamSize
External Spending
+
+
-
-
Investing
Trailing
Willing
Trying
16% 25%
51% 8%

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Providers strive to provide market influencers with appropriate information, but aren’t always effective
Information Shared

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Information Shared with Advisors
16%
41%
63%
64%
74%
81%
89%
90%
93%
94%
Mailed hard copies
Online information portals
Email newsletters
Thought leadership
Win announcements
Press releases
Acquisition / capabilities updates
Case studies
Inquiries/workshops
Capabilities Briefings

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Information Creation
38%
33%
64%
8%
39%
12%
46%
17%
79%
36%
61%
64%
30%
70%
53%
81%
45%
52%
9%
28%
6%
16%
23%
17%
16%
14%
Mailed hard copies
Online information portals
Email newsletters
Thought leadership
Win announcements
Press releases
Acquisition / capability updates
Case studies
Inquiries / workshops
Capabilities briefings materials
Advisor Relations Marketing Sales Other

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Key Messages
Different audiences want different types of information…
Asked in an open ended fashion, responses categorized and aggregated
Advisors Analysts
Capabilities
Case Studies
Differentiation
Client Experience
Consideration Sweet Spots
Recent Wins
Capabilities
Case Studies
Statistics – Revenue, etc.
Strategy
Differentiation
Trends, Market Insights,
Thought Leadership
Top
Mentions
Close
Second
Worthy
Mention

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Key Messages
How ISG advisors would prepare for a briefing if they were briefing ISG:
Asked in an open ended fashion, responses categorized and aggregated
ISG responses come from an internal ISG survey of advisors, n=155
Advisor Relations Says Advisor Community Says
Capabilities
Case Studies
Differentiation
Client Experience
Consideration Sweet Spots
Recent Wins
Capabilities
Client Experience
Case Studies
Differentiation
References
Key Strengths
Top
Mentions
Close
Second
Worthy
Mention Recent Wins

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What advisors have to say…
 Clearly articulate solution(s) for the topic of the briefing;
 Highlight features/offerings that differentiate provider from others in the
industry, what makes them unique;
 Without going into great detail, provide case studies that explain the key
elements of how the provider was able to bring benefits (save money, faster
time to market, better customer experience) to their client(s)
 Offerings - What do we offer and provide,
 References - Examples of where our offerings and services were deployed,
 Value achieved - How did our solution drive value for the clients,
 Competitive advantage - Why our solution compared to others
“
”

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Differences among Message Recipients
Advisors Analysts
Where can I recommend you
for client consideration?
How do you fit into the
competitive ecosystem I am
writing about?
Clients
How can you help me solve
my business issue?
Perform on deals;
demonstrate your
experience through case
studies and references
Provide measurement
statistics; share your
strategy, vision, and
capabilities so they
understand how you fit into
the market landscape
Demonstrate your industry
knowledge and how you
have helped others with
similar problems
What do they care about?
How do you best demonstrate your credibility?

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Key Takeaways

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Key Takeaways
 Advisor Relations team sizes continue to expand, and at an increasing pace (53% will
expand their teams in 2017, by an average of 2.6 FTE, expansion occurring across all
provider types)
 Advisor Relations budgets also continue to grow, and spending on programs continues to
accelerate ($685K avg spending, 60% expect to grow in 2017 by an average of 20%)
 One quarter of outsourcing service providers invest in their programs at a rate that
exceeds their peer group (‘investing’ group)
 Providers in the ‘investing’ group see ROI with stronger results on the ISG Awareness
Framework, including Advocacy rates twice as high as those in the ‘willing’ group
 Service providers need to continue to adjust their education content to align better with
the needs of the third-party advisory community

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