Bank Brokerage Sales Off In January

By Staff Writer

March 16, 2007 at 09:48 AM

Share & Print

The brokerage business in community banks and credit unions in January was 10% below the level set in January 2006.

The PrimeVest/ING Index of Community Bank Brokerage Revenue, compiled by Kehrer/LIMRA, Windsor, Conn., shows brokerage revenue in small banks stood at 135 in January 2007, down from 150 a year earlier.

The index is keyed to a benchmark of 100 set in 2002 by Kenneth Kehrer Associates, a Kehrer-LIMRA predecessor company.

Average monthly gross brokerage revenue per financial advisor in banks was $20,568, including trailer and advisory fees, down 7% from $22,018 per advisor a year earlier, according to Kehrer-LIMRA.

Excluding those fees, average brokerage revenue was $15,488 per advisor in January, down from $17,301 a year earlier.

Part of the decline is attributable to a shift in investors' interest toward mutual funds and away from annuities, according to John Harline, senior vice president of ING Variable Annuities, a subsidiary of ING Groep N.V., Amsterdam, and a cosponsor of the survey.

The other survey sponsor is PrimeVest Financial Services, another ING unit, which provides brokerage services for financial institutions.

NOT FOR REPRINT