84% of high-net-worth investors clueless about RIA designation

How important is it to be a registered investment adviser if nobody knows what it means?

Cash is pouring in for a campaign to educate investors, but it will only provide a starting-point. The campaign has its own termination trigger that will flip once they arrive at 50% IRA awareness from a poll of high net-worth investors.

Custodians, RIAs to launch awareness campaign

Registered investment advisers who are frustrated with getting a blank stare when they tell potential clients that they are independent and not a broker-dealer, are being asked to unite around a new branding campaign called OneVoiceRIA.

The effort is the brainchild of Gobind Daryanani, a managing director at TD Ameritrade Institutional in Jersey City, N.J., who has ambitious plans to blanket the public with web advertising, magazine articles and a viral marketing campaign aimed at making clear the uniqueness of RIAs by March or April.

He and his steering committee plan to fund the venture with $25 contributions from individual advisers and — more practically — with $50,000 in “sponsor” contributions from consultants and providers of record-keeping and other custody services, including TD Ameritrade.

Unfortunately, the campaign is not exactly detailed, as all it intends to say is that RIAs are “different from” broker/dealers. No comment on how they are different.

In an apparent effort to avoid antagonizing custodians and others who work with broker-dealers as well as with independent fee-only advisers, OneVoiceRIA’s campaign aims solely to educate investors that they have a choice when seeking help with their investments and financial issues.

At least it’s a start.

If you are a registered investment adviser, it would make sense to leverage the educational initiative here by adding the horsepower of your own campaign about what you do, what you represent, what you stand for, and why it is important.

Such a thought leadership campaign could come from content developed for both clients and prospects in a variety of formats, such as white papers, booklets, extended brochures and even full-length books.