Escalent, the award-winning data analytics and advisory firm, has introduced The Advisor Exchange™, an online insight community of financial advisors offering fast, flexible access to advisors for deeper qualitative insights, 24/7. Powered by Escalent’s advisor experts at Cogent Syndicated and community experts at C Space, the community connects clients directly with advisors, enabling clients to conduct real-time research and gather actionable findings to support business objectives while saving on time and costs.
“As we continue to navigate economic uncertainty, the need for real-time insights has grown immensely. The first-of-its-kind shared community offers a unique opportunity to tap the industry’s elite advisors for insights you can’t get anywhere else,” said Linda York, a senior vice president in Escalent’s Cogent Syndicated division. “This community is always on, giving clients the ability to engage with this coveted group of advisors on demand—whether connecting with the community episodically for fast feedback or for longer-term, strategic projects.”
Sourced from Cogent Syndicated’s industry-leading advisor database, The Advisor Exchange™ comprises more than 200 financial advisors representing a variety of firms across the US with assets under management of at least $50 million. Advisors within the community offer investment advice or planning services to individual investors on a fee or transactional basis.
In addition to providing 24/7 access to this robust community of advisors, The Advisor Exchange™ offers multiple ways to conduct innovative research with a curated collection of research tools provided by C Space.
“The time and financial commitment needed to develop, conduct and analyze a research study that yields reliable results can often hinder organizations from seeking out the insights they need to make business decisions,” said Laurie Bae, vice president and managing director of C Space Technology and Financial Services. “Our newly launched shared community eliminates the need to recruit participants or pay for endless vendors, licenses or platforms, allowing clients to implement research at speed in a cost-effective manner.”
Escalent has already put The Advisor Exchange™ into action, launching the community with an inaugural activity to gather advisors’ perspectives on the burgeoning investment category taking the US by storm: active ETFs. More than eight in ten advisors (87%) indicated they use active ETFs in their respective practices, albeit to varying degrees. According to current users, the benefits of active ETFs are plentiful, with many producers touting intraday trading and liquidity factors first and foremost. That said, advisors are mindful of the drawbacks the investment methodology comes with, such as the pressure to rationalize increased expenses and explain the complexity of the category to clients.
York added, “Actively managed ETFs are dramatically altering what was traditionally known as a passive landscape, and our findings affirm there are no signs of that changing in the immediate future. Nearly two-thirds of advisors (62%) expect to increase their use of or exposure to active ETFs in their retail investor client portfolios this year, shifting assets that would traditionally be directed to mutual funds. With this community in our arsenal, we’re easily able to engage this group of advisors to monitor their sentiments over time—which is virtually indispensable in today’s rapidly evolving market.”
To learn more about The Advisor Exchange™, click below.
