D ALBAR The Measurement of Success DALBAR.COM Kathleen Whalen DALBAR Principal & Managing Director

Introduction DALBAR Industry Background Service Strategies: Integrating Contemporary Technologies FINRA Position

DALBAR Industry Background:  North America’s leading financial-services market research firm  A firm that has spent more than three decades raising the standards of communication excellence in financial services  Well known for providing research, ratings and rankings of intangible factors that influence customer behavior

Evaluation Platform for Communications, Call Centers, Web Sites Behavioral Studies Industry Practices Customer Research Industry Forums Computerized Metrics Current and historical knowledge sources … … are codified into metrics for computer based ratings.

Service Strategies: Integrating Contemporary Technologies Financial Services Firms are embracing today’s technologies to reach their customers:  Social Networking: The grouping of individuals together into specific groups, allowing individuals with like interests to congregate Websites provide an online community where users can share thoughts and information

An overview of popular Social Networking websites

MySpace-Usage 34 percent of financial services firms use MySpace –98 percent of this audience used it solely for job postings 66 percent of financial services firms do not use MySpace

Facebook-Usage 28 percent of financial services firms use Facebook 72 percent do not use Facebook

Twitter *Nielsen News, April 28, 2009 (

Twitter-Usage 18 percent of financial services firms use 82 percent of financial services firms do not use

LinkedIn-Usage 69.4 percent of financial services firms are active on LinkedIn Firms that are represented on this site offer the following: –Corporate biography –Key statistics –News –Current employees and new hires

FINRA Position - Electronic Communications: Blogs, Bulletin Boards, and Chat Rooms For blogs and bulletin boards: –Posts from registered representatives must comply with FINRA regulations –There must be “supervisory procedures” in place to ensure that postings are compliant –Records of blogs and/or bulletin board postings must be maintained

FINRA Position - Electronic Communications: Blogs, Bulletin Boards, and Chat Rooms For Chat Rooms: –More lenient requirements to follow, however representatives must follow the same protocol as if speaking to a group of investors –Activity must be supervised –A solid understanding of firm policies and FINRA’s rules for communications with the public must be applied

FINRA Position – Electronic Communications: Social Networking Websites Advertisements Sales Literature Correspondence Independently prepared reprints Institutional sales materials Public appearances FINRA’s rules regarding public communications with the public apply to ALL electronic communications. These public communications fall into six groups:

FINRA Position – Electronic Communications: Social Networking Websites Public profiles are considered to be “Advertisements” Restricted profiles are considered to be “Sales Literature” Postings on blogs within a social networking website are “Advertisements” Postings within chat forums are “Public Appearances”