Curian Capital Releases Results of Advisor Practice Management Survey

Curian Capital, LLC (www.Curian.com), a registered investment advisor providing fee-based separately managed accounts (SMAs) to financial professionals, conducted a survey of more than 850 independent financial advisors in an effort to identify the key business challenges impacting their practices. The survey results reveal that today’s advisors share a high level of concern about a variety of practice management issues, and the majority do not feel that their current service model will allow them to expand their practices. The average advisor responding to Curian’s survey serves between 50 and 200 clients, has less than $30 million in assets under management and a book of business that is less than 20 percent fee based. The results of the survey reveal that advisors are most concerned with improving efficiency, building value in their practices, keeping pace with technology, and overall time management. Other key findings from the survey include: 89% of respondents spend less than half of their work time in front of clients and prospects 77% do not have a clear understanding of the value of their businesses 71% have not developed a succession plan for their businesses 65% have not analyzed the net margins of their practices and identified steps to improve results 60% do not have a service model in place that will allow them to comfortably add a substantial number of new clients "Today’s advisors are clearly aware of the issues they need to address in order to serve their clients better and expand their practices, and they are interested in learning new strategies to help them overcome those challenges,” said Michael Bell, president and CEO of Curian Capital. "Curian recognizes that the demands of running an efficient advisory practice are becoming increasingly rigorous. We are committed to establishing strong partnerships with advisors and supporting them with the education and guidance they need to take their businesses to the next level.” The majority of advisors responding to Curian’s survey have not examined relevant criteria to determine which clients are profitable to their business, and 65 percent do not actively segment their client base. The responses also indicate that most advisors started to experience growth pains and felt pressure to organize their businesses better when their practices were still relatively small – less than $25 million in assets under management. "Most advisors have a genuine desire to help their clients achieve their financial goals, but very few of them actually have the kind of structured service program in place that will allow them to effectively address the increasing demands of today’s investors,” said Dan Maurer, SVP of Marketing for Curian Capital. "Curian has the practice management expertise and technology capabilities to help independent advisors establish efficient and profitable fee-based business models that allow them to attract and retain clients.” Curian’s innovative SMA platform allows advisors to create customized account portfolios designed to meet the unique investment objectives of their clients. The firm offers a variety of training programs and educational opportunities to help financial professionals maximize the advantages of the Curian platform. Curian’s team of experienced business consultants works with advisors to help them build deeper relationships with clients, manage time more effectively and develop long-term strategies for growing their businesses. To obtain the complete survey data or an executive summary of the results, reporters can contact Andrew Silver, Curian Public Relations Director, at 303-224-7542 or via e-mail at andrew.silver@curian.com. For more information about the Curian platform and the company’s professional development and practice management capabilities, registered investment advisors, broker-dealers and financial institutions can visit www.Curian.com or contact the Curian Sales Desk at 877-847-4192. About Curian Capital Curian Capital, LLC (www.Curian.com) is a registered investment advisor providing innovative fee-based separately managed accounts to financial professionals through a state-of-the-art technology platform. The company has more than $2.4 billion in assets under management as of 12/31/06, and ranks among the top 10 third party managed account vendors in the industry by AUM (source: Cerulli Associates). Curian also received the 2006 Boomer Market Advisor magazine Readers’ Choice Award for the SMA platform that best fits clients’ needs. Curian Capital is an indirect subsidiary of Prudential plc (NYSE: PUK), a company incorporated and with its principal place of business in the United Kingdom. Prudential plc and its affiliated companies constitute one of the world's leading financial service groups. It provides insurance and financial services directly and through its subsidiaries and affiliates throughout the world. It has been in existence for more than 150 years and had more than $490 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2006. Prudential plc is not affiliated in any manner with Prudential Financial, Inc., a company whose principal place of business is in the United States of America.