Independent advisor firms with annual revenues of $1 million or more devote more time to attracting and keeping employees, according to a new study.
   Such firms also are more likely to implement a client segmentation strategy, devoting more resources to profitable relationships, according to the new study by Pershing Advisor Solutions LLC, entitled, "A View From the Top: Best Practices in Leveraging Human Capital."  
   When it comes to employees, the study found that the higher-revenue firms were more likely to focus on recruitment incentives such as salary, profit sharing, benefits packages, equity and signing bonuses, according to the study.
   Such firms were also more likely to provide employee training and orientation, periodic performance reviews and formal manager/reporting structures.
   The study also found that, across all firms surveyed, 70% of respondents felt the most effective recruiting tools were intangibles such as "firm reputation" and "corporate culture."
   More than half of high-revenue firms, 55%, had client segmentation strategies, compared with 40% for low revenue firms, according to the study.
   Firms with $1 million or more in revenues were also more likely to separate the sales and relationship management functions. About 78% of high-revenue firms had such a strategy, compared with 55% of firms with revenues below $1 million.