We're proud to introduce 2009's BIC Top 50 Bank reps.   View the Photo Gallery

The rankings are based on the ratio of advisors' production (their achievement) to the deposits in the branch or branches they cover (their opportunity.) Top-producing reps don't necessarily rank higher, but we feel this is the fairest way to level the playing field between reps at mega-branches in huge metropolitan areas and advisors working small branches in rural communities.

A look at the numbers reveals some interesting results. Regionally, while Texas and Virginia all gave it a run for its money with four BIC Top 50 reps each, Florida beat out every other state with 10 advisors in the ranking, despite the state's dire housing market.

That may have to do with its popularity among retirees. Colorado, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania and Tennessee had three reps each in the ranking; Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, New Jersey and Washington had two; Arizona, California, Delaware, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Ohio and South Carolina had one. (Keen-eyed readers who make that 51 reps, remember that the winner this year is actually a team of two!)

Of all product categories, only managed accounts routinely represent more than half of an advisor's book. This is true for almost one-fourth (22%) of advisors in this year's BIC Top 50, and shows how far the industry has moved toward fee-based models. Most advisors don't go above 50% in any one product category, but when they do, it's usually in mutual funds. In fact, two advisors have 75% of their business in mutual funds! Outside that, one advisor has 65% of his book in bonds, one sells 64% variable annuities, another sells just over 50% in fixed annuities.

Most advisors have well-rounded product mixes. Some 92% sell mutual funds, and 90% sell variable annuities. Managed accounts are a close third: 84% of advisors sell them. Of the remaining categories, 80% of reps sell equities, 78% sell fixed annuities, 70% sell bonds/fixed income and 58% sell life insurance.

Diversity continues to be someone else's problem, with only five women in the BIC Top 50. Things are even worse on the ethnic front; only two reps out of the 50 positions are "non-white." If you're concerned about the lack of diversity among our ranking, bear in mind that the initial ranking is conducted by our color-blind and gender-unbiased Excel software. The nomination process is an open invite. Use it! Once again, join us in congratulating the winners of this year's BIC Top 50 competition.

1

Don Foster & Steve Sherrod

Don Foster and Steve Sherrod have been partners in their advisory business since 1984. They split all their revenues, work together on their largest accounts and help each other's clients when one or the other advisor is out of the office.

The team manages accounts for 1,200 clients, most of whom Foster and Sherrod have worked with for many years. They now send any new bank referrals to an associate advisor who joined them a year ago, but they maintain a tight communications with bankers, regularly sending over clients who need residential or commercial loans or mortgages. Foster and Sherrod have also been parking a lot of clients' money in the bank's West Texas money market fund, which pays a little more than money market funds available through brokerage and is insured by the FDIC.

Throughout the downturn this pair stuck to their guns on the merits of asset allocation. While their accounts dipped by about 23%, the S&P was down almost double that, so even in a powerful recession, asset allocation did what they said it would. Plus, the advisors keep between three and five years' worth of each client's assets in cash or cash equivalents. Nonetheless, they spent much of the past year hand holding.

Since 1990, they have focused on fee-based, level-load pricing for their clients, with fee schedules well below the industry average, at just 0.5% to 0.75%, depending on the size of the account. Over the past several years, they have also focused on helping clients and prospects better manage debt to enhance their total financial well-being. Clients who are debt free by the time they retire are more likely to stick to their financial plan, Foster says.

Foster and Sherrod bolstered client confidence in April with a client appreciation dinner targeting their 450 largest accounts. The guest presenter, an economist from Raymond James, reassured clients that the market had bottomed out in March and that the economy was recovering. He preached diversification and advised guests to invest in solid blue-chip stocks that pay dividends, rather than getting caught up in a short-term trading mind set.