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Research projects

Finer is the first Italian company combining market research and analysis in the field of finance and economy with a special attention to the core values of human capital and of the interaction with the worlds of culture and sustainability. FINER contextualizes the analyses of the company through proprietary ongoing observations based on thousands annual interviews to Financial Advisors, professionals of pension funds, insurance, provident funds, top managers of insurance companies working with banks and networks, agents, insurance agents’ associations, sub-agents, sales managers, inspectors, brokers and end clients (corporate and private).

Finer^® CF Explorer

Annual monitoring of financial advisors

Every year, for almost twenty years, we have been carrying out market research by interviewing a representative sample of over 25.000 financial advisors with an active mandate, managing 600 billion euros in Italy and providing for over four million clients.

The world of financial conselling represents our first stage, a world we have been acquainted with for almost twenty years. In 2001, Financial Advisors used to be called promotori finanziari, which translates to financial promoters. The new name clarifies a trait that has been for some time distinctive of the new professionality: the seller became, in time, a maieuta, that is someone who, more or less consciously, employs the Socratic dialogical method and, “through the dialogue with clients, leads them to find truth within themselves and to define it as independently as possible”. Such quality is characteristic of professionals (psychologists, lawyers, accountants), positively differentiating them from the majority of the average interlocutors of Italian investors. The asset of the Italians managed by FAs has more than tripled in the past 15 years (from 160 to 800 billions) and the number of Italian investors assisted by FAs has risen from 10% to 15% of the range of population interacting with banking services; a quarter of them are private clients.

Over the years, we have extended our analysis to IFAs (Independent Financial Advisors) of Anglo-Saxon and European countries that gave life to a figure whose social value grows along with the assets under management.

Finer^® TOP CF Explorer

Annual monitoring of top financial advisors

As a research institute, every year we interview a significant sample of Top or Private Financial Advisors amounting to about 2.500 Top or Private Financial Advisors, equal to 10% of Italian FAs with an active mandate managing 30% of AUM (over 170 billion euros).

Since 2012, financial consultancy in Italy has conquered the best-capitalized segment of the population, composed of Private and HNWI (High Net Worth Individual) clients. Private and HNWI clients – with financial assets worth between half a million and a hundred million euros or above – wish to be assisted by successful professionals, whose merit is recognized by colleagues and peers (FAs, Top Managers, Advisory Team) and by external partners (first and foremost, Asset Management Companies). Thanks to their experience and listening skills, they are a significant points of reference as opinion leaders within networks of Financial Advisors.

Every year, we involve in our research hundreds of Top and Private financial Advisors (with individual portfolios worth over 60 million euros and a high proportion of Private and HNWI clients and entrepreneurs).

Finer^® Private Bank Explorer

Annual monitoring of private bankers

We are the first Italian think tank and every year we interview a representative sample of over 10,000 Italian private bankers managing over 800 billions AUM. Private clients are certainly the most demanding and the private banker acts as a pivot in the management of such important assets.

Private Banks have always been regarded as an example of Italian excellence. They were able to adjust and, sometimes, surpass, in terms of quality of service, the most celebrated Swiss, American and English banks. In recent years, the market of private banking has undergone radical changes: the arrival of networks of financial advisors which broke the monopoly of traditional banks, the MiFID 2, the generational change among Private clients, the lowering of interest rates, the ensuing growing incidence of asset management and the related financial risks even in private clientele, the reduction of the financial margins and the need to extend the offer to services with greater added value (succession and financial services, wealth management, private insurance, club deal and illiquid or non cash investments).

Private clients (with financial assets worth over 500.000 euros) and HNWI clients (with financial assets worth five million euros or more) are certainly the most demanding and are often entrepreneurs: the private banker acts as a pivot, in a position to direct and orientate the management of such significant assets.

Finer^® Bank Manager Explorer

Annual monitoring of bank managers

We are a research institute and every year we interview a representative sample of over 100,000 professionals who are dedicated to affluent clients at the bank. They are, numerically and qualitatively, the most significant segment of the population who interacts with banking services (over two million Italians) holding a large percentage of the over 1.400 billion euros deposited on bank accounts.

Universal banks are the depositories of the savings of the Italians who today keep over 1.400 billion euros in their bank accounts. The role and social function of those who, in a bank, assist the affluent or upper affluent clientele (people with financial assets worth between 200.000 and 500.000 euros) are central for the growth of the financial culture of the country.

The affluent or upper affluent segment of clients is the largest in Italy (over 2 million people) and in the world (over 80 million). It is also the segment characterized by the highest growth rate (+ 5% every year). The function of those who, in a bank, manage this segment is fundamental. For this reason, each year we interview a significant sample of the over 100.000 professionals working with affluent clients, numerically and qualitatively the most relevant segment of the population interacting with banking services.

Finer^® Fund Selector Explorer

Annual monitoring of Italian fund selectors

Every year we interview a significant sample of fund selectors chosen from among the over 600 most influential ‘gatekeepers’ in Italy operating in banks, networks of financial advisors, asset management companies, pension funds, provident funds and insurance companies.

Fund selectors, fund buyers or fund users operating in banks, networks of financial advisors, asset management companies, pension funds, provident funds and insurance companies are responsible for the buy list of asset management companies and therefore the veritable gatekeepers of asset management companies.

In companies dealing with the distribution of investment products – banks or networks of financial advisors, as well as pension funds, provident funds and insurance companies – these gatekeepers have a decisive role in selecting and choosing which asset management companies are the most suitable to work with.

In such context, the so-called gatekeepers become, together with financial advisors, the actual protagonists of the market, its fund buyers and its fund selectors; much more than before, they act as the central interlocutors of asset management companies, which recognize them as the most perceptive key holders who can determine the success of their management company.

Finer^® Insurance Explorer

Annual monitoring of insurance stakeholder

The economic and social importance of the themes linked to protection draws to our attention the figures of the agent, sub-agent, insurance producer and broker. Every year, we interview a significant sample of the 300.000+ professionals – top managers, sales managers, inspectors, insurance agents and sub-agents, as well as their clients (corporate and private).

In recent years, the insurance business has undergone significant changes; the consolidation of banking products in the field of life assurance and their entry into the field of damage insurance, the dissemination of digital technology and social media, as well as the recent IDD directive, entail noteworthy consequences in terms of distribution processes and behaviors.

Four years ago, we promoted the first continuous research analysis on the market of insurance agents and sub-agents; the research aimed at measuring the level of satisfaction of agents in respect to their companies and in comparison with the market benchmark, and measuring as well the value of the brand equity of individual companies in relation to their ability to attract the best professionals in their field.

Finer^® Finance Mirror

Annual monitoring of Italian end investors

Every year, we interview a sample representation of over 30 million savers in Italy, who invest or have invested their savings, who subscribe insurance policies or might do so. The interviewees are segmented on the basis of their assets, of their age, generation and personal attitudes.

The true mirror of our field work is expressed by the value we attribute to our practices of measurement: which enable us to assess the value of assets and insurance experts seen from the point of view of their clients, to identify differences in levels of information and cognitive dissonances relative to asset management and protection (insurance).

Our interviewees are segmented on the basis of their assets (HNWI, Private, Affluent and Upper Affluent, Mass Market), their age group, generation (Silent Generation, Generation Y, Baby Boomers, Millennials or generation X, Generation Z) as well as their personal attitudes.

The professional framework we refer to consists of individuals interacting/not interacting with banking services, end investors (clients of FAs, PBs and bank managers), actual and potential subscribers of insurance policies, all representative of the Italian population (sources: Istat and Banca d’Italia).

Research projects

Finer ® CF Explorer

Finer ® TOP CF Explorer

Finer ® Private Bank Explorer

Finer ® Bank Manager Explorer

Finer ® Fund Selector Explorer

Finer ® Insurance Explorer

Finer ® Finance Mirror