Brokers are losing much valuable time to compliance issues each week, according to a new study by Katherine Vessenes of Vestment Advisors, Inc. of Minneapolis. The 2007 Financial Advisor Compliance and Legal Concerns Survey asked 100 U.S. advisors, representing 48 broker/dealers, a series of questions regarding compliance concerns, the quality of their internal and external compliance departments, and how they would change the compliance departments for the better.
The survey, conducted during the first quarter of this year, found that the amount of paperwork needed to meet compliance standards was a top concern for 39% of advisors. This may be because 13% of these advisors report losing nearly one full day of production each week on compliance, while a combined 38% of those surveyed are spending more than 3 hours per week dealing with compliance. "If they are dealing with compliance they are not meeting with a client," notes Vessenes.
