Securian Financial Group has launched a microsite that financial advisors can use to better understand the small-business owner market. The site, launched Monday, is an outgrowth of a survey the firm conducted last year of small-business owners which found that just 50% of the small business owner market is currently served by financial advisors.
While small business looms large in the U.S. economy—employing about half of all private-sector employees, according to the Small Business Administration—Securian Financial Group marketing director Kerry Geurkink believes small business owners (SBOs) lack sophistication in retirement planning.
"Ask a small business owner how she's going to fund her retirement and she'll say, 'Sell the business.' If only it were that simple!" Geurkink said in a news release.
The Securian microsite mainly includes links to various report summaries, but the summaries are easy to read, containing simple bullet points and graphics that tend to get right to the point. For example, the main report examines the challenges SBOs face; measures their interest in using financial advisors; and helps distinguish between SBOs who are more or less likely to use advisors.
Those likely to seek an advisor (27% of SBOs) tend to be younger, sole decision-makers and female. Their top concerns include personal retirement planning and taking care of their family's financial needs ("this may be because more of them still have children at home," the report says).
