Consulting firm names 10 top intermediary websites

FWR Staff

7 October 2008

Manager portals are rated for content, navigability and user friendliness. Fidelity Investments has the best online investment-product portal for financial intermediaries in the in the asset-management space, according to Kasina, a market-research firm. Kasina assesses firms' advisor-centric web offerings across three categories: accessibility of content, overall quality and ease of use.

The website of Fidelity's Institutional Services Company placed first out of more than 50 websites operated by asset managers for the benefit of retail-client-facing advisors because it provides a "breadth of content across all areas," says Johanna Willer, a senior with New York-based Kasina.

The list

"Additionally, a new site re-design focused on integrating key areas of the site -- namely the product and literature areas -- in a seamless user experience that gives advisors easy access to key information," says Willis.

The enhancements Willer mentions have to do with her group's Insight Center, according to FIIS executive v.p. Martha Willis.

"The Insight Center is part of a site redesign that we initiated last year with the goal of providing advisors easy access to information and sales ideas that add value to their client relationships and help them grow their business, as well as strengthening our best in class client service," says Willis.

After FIIS, Kasina's top ten intermediary websites are BlackRock, American Funds, John Hancock, Vanguard, Franklin Templeton, DWS, MFS, JPMorgan Funds and -- in a tie for the tenth slot -- OppenheimerFunds and Putnam.

FIIS managed more than $300 billion at the end of June 2008. -FWR

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