Post-Merger Statement Redesign – Keeping the Dream Alive
Speakers: Cheryl Kay, Vice President, Art Plus Technology

As the landscape in financial services continues to change and evolve, more and more companies are faced with the communications crises that accompany the merger and acquisition activity so prevalent in this industry today. Perhaps the most overlooked, yet very critical piece of communication is the client statement – the one piece of correspondence that always gets read. An effective statement design (or redesign) can be a critical factor in improving customer relations, reducing costs and building brand identity and loyalty.  Among the topic areas they will address are: learning about and meeting the needs of all client groups, getting and keeping resources in the midst of layoffs and conflicting priorities, selling the project more than once due to constant reorganization, dealing with an ever changing group of players. They will also identify some of the common pitfalls to avoid in a design project, as well as review key design elements of high-impact documents.

Best Practices to Attract & Capture Online Leads for Financial Services
Speaker: Sherri Neasham, Founder and CEO, FinanCenter

Many lending, banking, insurance, and brokerage firms invest substantial funds in designing Web sites that provide extensive information on their various products - but have no ability to qualify and induce a sale either through the web site or with personal follow-up.  In this presentation, Sherri Neasham will cite specific examples of Web sites in the banking, insurance, lending and brokerage industries to describe best online practices to increase financial services transactions through the web or other channels.

Ms. Neasham will explain how financial service firms can attract customers with a one-click interaction on high-traffic pages, and how to provide customers with next-steps directions that produce rapid results.  She will discuss ways that firms can utilize segmentation and customization to decrease fulfillment costs while increasing customer satisfaction and producing higher conversion rates, especially for highly qualified prospects.
Attendees will learn:

• What to offer at high traffic web sites to help to funnel leads
• How to incite visitors to take action using tools such as calculators
• Tips on the best use of links, graphics, text, wording and more
• How to qualify leads for tracking and customization of fulfillment
• How to monitor conversion rates
• Recommendations about 800 numbers, forms, and file management

Content Delivery: Meeting the Demand for Web-Based Access
Speaker: Ray Dieter, Regional Vice President, INSCI

On-line Statement Presentment (OSP), and the automated delivery of mission-critical electronic business content, can be an attainable reality for your enterprise. This session discusses the technology infrastructure issues of OSP, as well as enterprise content distribution. Learn how to avoid document redesign and drive adoption with familiar document formats. Attendees leave this session with a practical, cost-effective action plan to address the common challenges most companies face when implementing effective content delivery solutions.

Managing Shareholder Communications Costs
Moderator: Mark DeCollibus, Senior Strategist, Art Plus Technology
Panel:
Dave Maher, VP Corporate Marketing Services, Fidelity Investments
Kyle Purcell, Manager of Shareholder Communications, T. Rowe Price
Bill Roche, CEO, Dynagraf

As Fund Expenses grow due to the SEC scrutiny that is being placed on Fund Complexes, there is an increased need to closely manage costs. This presentation will cover several opportunities to help the audience understand and manage some of the areas that can impact their Shareholder Communications expense. The moderator will describe the journey he took with a major mutual fund complex that was committed to reducing fund expenses, while increasing customer satisfaction. The discussion will include Fulfillment, Regulatory reporting, (Annual Reports, Semi Annual Reports and Prospectuses), Shareholder Output, (Statements, Confirms and Checks) and Proxy process reengineering.  By tackling the “end-to-end” process the firm was able to reduce head count, decrease costs and improve customer satisfaction and retention. The introduction will be followed by a panel discussion among shareholder marketers and technology experts.

Composition Tools - An Analyst Shoot-out
Moderator: Elizabeth Gooding, President & CEO, Art Plus Technology

Panel:
Kemal Carr, President, Madison Advisors
Carolyn Valiquette, General Manager, PODI
Rich Medina, Senior Research Analyst, Doculabs  

This panel of expert analyst will compare and contrast their approaches to categorizing and ranking composition and formatting tools from major software vendors. Should you select a tool by the output devices it will drive, the import formats it will ingest, the volume of documents it must produce, its ability to create specific types of document, or its ability to support the broadest range of documents? Is it better to buy a specialist product or a generalist product? Where is this market going and how much does it matter to the tool evaluation you do today? This panel will discuss both market concepts and specific products.

Designing Award-Winning Statements
Speaker: Deborah Ryan, Director, Wystar Global Retirement Solutions

A recent DALBAR award winner discusses the tools and methodologies used to deliver PFPC/Wystar’s award-winning retirement statement. Discover what factors allowed this firm to succeed where others have failed.

Sixteen Scandals: Rebuilding Trust & Addressing New Compliance Challenges
Moderator:
Elizabeth Gooding, President & CEO, Art Plus Technology.

Speakers:
Phil Edwards, Managing Director, Standard & Poor's;
Neil Bathon, President, Financial Research Corporation;
Russ Kinnel, Director of Mutual Fund Research, Morningstar

As the deadline draws near for the first pass on investigations into late trades and other events within the Mutual Fund industry, what changes from a communications perspective lie ahead? What issues are currently being considered at the SEC to drive further disclosure on statements, websites and in other shareholder communications?   Who foots the bill for all of this?   How are the fines that are being levied against all of the firms going to be spent?  Will these funds fuel a large swat team to dig deeper into past actions? What can you do now to leapfrog some of these potential actions?   Learn what Service providers and Fund Complexes are thinking about.

Getting Personal
Speakers: Cam Shapansky, Partner, Blue North Strategies
Brent Klassen, Partner, Blue North Strategies

Everybody acknowledges that personalizing client communications is a good thing. Most organizations even tell their customers that they’re doing it. The reality is however that after several years of trying and spending with little success there is also a good deal of growing cynicism. While cynicism exists, personalization leaders are doing it and realizing measurable and exciting results. So what’s the secret?
Blue North Strategies is working with many of the organizations that are using personalized communications to boost both their top and bottom lines. This session will provide you with the keys to making personalization work for you.

We will start by presenting:
The opportunity, A few success stories, Roadblocks to success, and How to get started.

After presenting the potential we will roll up our sleeves and get into: How to sell a personalization initiative internally, The key measurements of success, An example of a successful personalization business case; and
Building a business case for personalizing your communications. 

This session will get you excited about the potential of personalization and then give you the tools to move an initiative forward.

Selecting and Integrating Content Management Products
Speaker: Jeetu Patel, Executive Vice President, Doculabs

Considering the technology purchasing lifecycle is an essential part of putting together a solid content management plan. This lifecycle typically begins with identifying a business need and understanding the technologies that will meet that need, then moves through the selection, implementation, and use phases. While recognizing the need for content management technology is important, how you approach the subsequent phases in the lifecycle is critical. The solution you select from a pool of providers can make or break your organization's ability to solve its business challenges and move forward with its strategic and business goals. Once selected, the most problematic issue can be integrating the new technology with existing systems. In fact, at this point many content management projects stall or die due to poor planning, lack of internal support, or selection of an inappropriate solution. In this session, Doculabs will provide you with a road map for selecting content management technology and define a framework for bringing it live into your organization.

Key takeaways from this session include:

• Avoiding the pitfalls of technology selection
• Ten steps for a successful enterprise content management deployment
• How to focus on a successful integration instead of merely preventing a failure
• Understanding of the major players in the content management market and the types of solutions these vendors provide

Designing Documents That Work
Speaker: Cheryl Kay, Vice President, Art Plus Technology

In the business environment, “documents that work” must balance the needs of customers and business users within the constraints of available technology. To create these documents, designers must work at the intersection of art, commerce and technology. This session will review a “design that works” process that has been used successfully by major financial institutions and present offer examples of documents that perform well, and discuss shortcomings of common document types. This session will broaden your interpretation of what it means for a document to truly perform well and provide you with tools to optimize your own communications.

E-mail Accountability and Compliance
Speaker: Priscilla Emery, President, e-Nterprise Advisors

E-mail has been described as "the greatest source of litigation risk today." The need for corporate accountability for all records and information and the consequences of not complying with new legislation has increased the need to examine how e-mail is managed and saved within many organizations. This session will highlight the business and legal issues involved with regard to e-mail accountability, discuss the different approaches that are available to achieve compliance, and highlight questions that must be answered prior to making an implementation decision. With some of the recent regulatory actions surrounding e-mail for financial services companies, records managers and technical staff are being asked to develop solutions. Companies regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission have unique requirements for managing e-mail and instant messaging. This session will provide a solid understanding of the legal and financial consequences of not actively managing your e-mail archives, examine what types of e-mail archive and management alternatives exist today, and explain how to make a more informed decision about the alternatives that are best for your organization.

A Plan Analysis Tool That’s a Cut Above
Speakers: Donna Wong, Director, eBusiness Solutions, Manulife Financial
Nick Romano, President & CEO, Prinova Technologies

How can you strengthen advisor and client relationships by reinforcing the value of your products and services? Find out how you can develop a plan analysis tool that gives powerful information to clients and assist them in assessing plan options and objectives.  From setting the business objectives to capitalizing on the latest technologies (print-on-demand, full color, web-hosting and online ordering features), Manulife Financial and Prinova will feature a case study on the development of the Annual Contract Review (ACR).

Nick Romano, P. Eng., President of Prinova Technologies and Donna Wong, Director, e-Business Solutions for Manulife Financial will discuss the concept, system, challenges and success of the Annual Contract Review.

The New Regulatory Climate and Its Effect on Financial Services
Speaker: Pat McAnally, Senior Director- Professional Services, SunGard

This session, designed specifically for financial communications professionals, will give you a unique view of current regulatory hotspots concerning the intersection of information technology and business. Since technology is so entwined with how business functions, government regulations are focusing on operational risk and forcing companies to pay attention to business continuity, information management and information security. Learn about the latest NASD/NYSE requirements. We will discuss formal customer communications for continuity strategies as well as recommendations for incident management planning.

Join Bill Wreaks, President of the Financial Communications Society and Editor of the Journal of Financial Advertising & Marketing, as he presents the award-winners from the 10th annual FCS Portfolio Awards held on May 6. The Portfolio Awards honor the best achievements in financial services advertising.

Strengthening Your Brand by Simplifying the Client Experience
Speakers: Max Dietshe, Senior Consultant, Addison
Madeleine Yates, Director, Total Merrill Marketing, Merrill Lynch

Hear how the world's largest brokerage firm, Merrill Lynch, in conjunction with its communications consultant, Addison, dramatically streamlined the post-purchase experience for their clients, simplified and improved a complex compliance process and helped put accountability and attention where it belongs - on the relationship between Merrill's financial advisors and their clients. The result is a groundbreaking new customer service tool: the Merrill Lynch Owner's Manual.

Best Practices in Marketing Communications
Speaker:  Carolyn Valiquette, Director - Technology & Services, Print on Demand Initiative (PODI)

From a collection of over 200 case studies, PODi reports on the best practices and emerging trends in the digital printing industry. Several case studies will be called out from the financial industry, including relevant, recipient-specific CRM in statements, as well as completely personalized 401k enrollment booklets. Highlights include the use of color to increase response, segmentation of data to provide highly relevant messaging, and carefully planned/measurable objectives to predict ROI. Industry trends, such as CRM in financial statements and the emergence of on-line tools for marketing professionals to initiate campaigns and order collateral will also be discussed.

Best Practices in Online Advisor Resources
Speaker: Michael Ellison, Vice President, Corporate Insight

Helping the Financial Advisor build and retain their book of business is why the advisor aligns with the fund firm. As such, advisor websites are the perfect channel for fund companies to offer prospecting assistance and advice. But not all advisor sites are created equal – nor do they offer the same tools, resources or capabilities.

Michael Ellison examines the best practices of leading mutual fund firms and their online capabilities in terms of prospecting support, service support and product information. Our assessment includes benchmarking each firms’ particular capabilities and sharing our detailed findings to reveal which firms are providing the best tools and resources, and why.

Learning from the leaders along with our recommendations, Mr. Ellison offers suggestions that will allow firms to develop a top-notch advisor website - an essential ingredient in the continued success of the advisor’s business, and yours.

Rebuilding Relationships through Effective Communications
Keynote Speaker: Tim Armour, Managing Director, Morningstar

For the past several years most investors have had a terrible experience with the market, and by extension their financial relationships. The average investor doesn't understand market performance, is biased by recent fund scandals, and is not in a position to keep from reliving the experience down the road. Fundamental research combined with effective information design to communicate key concepts can benefit asset managers, advisors and individual investors. Using design to simplify and clarify the presentation of diversification, risk and overall portfolio composition offers the investor improved confidence and allows the broker to add value. Tim Armour will present key visualization approaches to allow investment professionals and investors to work together to define and manage appropriate portfolios, with common benchmarks for measuring success.

Making Personalization Work: A Technical Perspective
Moderator: Elizabeth Gooding, President & CEO, Art Plus Technology
Speaker: Andrew Seibert, General Manager & Editor, SmartMoney Custom Solutions
Pat McGrew, Director of Document Solutions, Pitney Bowes Management Services
Robert Reeder, Chief Technology Officer, W.A. Wilde

Personalization continues to be a priority for all facets of financial communications. Each year, personalization strategies and technologies improve, bringing us closer to the almost mythical one-to-one experience. However, despite new technology, developing and implementing an effective personalization program continues to be a challenge. In this session, you'll learn:

• what to consider when evaluating a personalization program
• techniques for quantifying the results of a personalization program
• why some personalization programs fail while others succeed
• key technologies and processes to consider

Getting Clued In to the Practice of Experience Management
Speaker: Lou Carbone, CEO, Experience Engineering

Customers choose to do business with financial institutions based on the TOTAL experience they receive, not products and services alone. A customer’s overall experience is powerfully influenced by conscious, unconscious, sensory and emotional clues. Through the experiences an organization delivers, these highly emotive signals are crystallized into the attitudes that dictate everything from customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction to long-term preference and loyalty.

The practice of managing experiences focuses an organization on systematically analyzing and managing these influential clues versus simply hoping for the best. Get “clued in” to how an Experience Management System can enable your organization to create value through the experiences you deliver every day.