How do wholesalers pick which FAs to meet? Increasingly, the answer boils down to data, according to new research from a consulting ally to fundsters.

Loren Fox Fuse Research Network LLC Director of Research

50 percent of asset managers say that at least 61 percent of their wholesalers' meetings (in-person and virtual) with FAs are driven by data and analytics, up from 31 percent of asset managers in 2024, per a recent survey conducted by the folks at Fuse Research Network and the Sales and Marketing Enablement Forum (SME Forum). Loren Fox, director of research at Fuse, tells MFWire that last month and this month they surveyed 26 asset managers. He notes that only 8 percent of fundsters say data-driven segmentation is driving 20 percent or less of their wholesalers' meetings (down from 15 percent of asset managers last year), while 42 percent say that such segmentation is driving 21 to 60 percent of wholesaler meetings (down from 54 percent of firms in 2024).

Perhaps not surprisingly, the Fuse and SME teams find that the shift to data-driven segmentation is even "more pronounced" among the biggest fund firms, Loren confirms. Among asset managers with at least $100 billion each in mutual fund and ETF AUM, this year 45 percent of them say that such segmentation is driving at least 80 percent of their wholesalers' meetings, up from 27 percent of those big firms last year.

"The results confirm that asset managers are increasingly getting wholesalers to use data in their processes, usually by segmenting advisors based on their AUM, strategy preferences and other criteria, so that any sales outreach is more targeted," Fox writes to MFWire. "To support these efforts, asset managers are spending more on advisor data, whether that data is acquired from vendors or directly from distributors, and combining that information with data sourced from the manager's own interactions."

Fox also sees a positive data feedback loop here.

"FUSE expects the boost to sales efficiency over time will lead to an even greater reliance on data-driven segmentation," Fox states. 

Stay ahead of the news ... Sign up for our email alerts now
CLICK HERE