IFA Magazine – reader survey results June 2012.
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Table of contents:
Overview, History and Background … 3 How would you rate the editorial content of IFA Magazine? … 4 How do you rate the visual style of IFA Magazine? … 5 Do you think that the magazine differs from others in the marketplace? … 6 Is the magazine useful to you in a work context? … 7 Which parts of the magazine do you like, or find useful? … 8 What best describes your role? … 9 Do you select funds for your clients' investments and pensions? … 10 Please tick all the boxes below that best describe you … 11 How would you rate our website? www.ifamagazine.com … 12 What adverts do you recall seeing in the magazine? … 13 Which other financial publications do you read? … 14 Please give us any other thoughts/feedback/likes/dislikes on the magazine … 15 Conclusion … 16
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Overview, History and Background: On the 25th May 2012, IFA Magazine e-mailed a reader survey to 10,000 hard copy and digital subscribers. We received 212 (2.12%) completed survey replies. It is vital that we continue to monitor progress and ensure that we are delivering the publication and web site to our readers’ satisfaction. IFA Magazine launched in March 2011. The title was built on research amongst IFAs and the current B2B publication offering and the imminent shift in the IFA marketplace brought on by RDR. This presented an opportunity to position a publication more suited to the higher end IFA and become the magazine of choice for the next generation of advisory professional. The magazine was launched into a competitive environment in a difficult economic climate, but it has survived and prospered thanks to its innovative, challenging and informative editorial format, presented in a highly-finished and visually attractive graphical form. IFA Magazine stands out from its competitors in that it aims to present the reader with background and contextual information that he cannot easily find elsewhere. The challenge for IFAs, as they approach the Retail Distribution review, is that they need to convince their clients that they are on top of the many macro issues that are currently shaping world and market events, rather than merely the market fundamentals themselves. IFA Magazine aims to do this with style, humour and a challenging but gently satirical approach which has gone down exceptionally well with the readership. This alone would not have been enough, however, without industry-specific innovations such as our monthly accounts of all the latest FSA publications, or our unique IFA Calendar, or our intensive examination of regulatory trends – all of which are surprisingly hard to find elsewhere. In the 12 months since launch, IFA Magazine has reached significant approval ratings in both internal and independent external surveys.
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1. How would you rate the editorial content of IFA Magazine? Answer Options You call that content?! Not that great Comme ci, comme รงa I like it I'd like to nominate IFA Magazine for the Pulitzer Prize
Response Percent 0.5% 0.9% 32.5% 63.2%
Response Count 1 2 69 134
2.8%
6
answered question skipped question
212 0
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2. How do you rate the visual style of IFA Magazine? Answer Options Don't like it at all It's not really my thing It's OK I like it WOW! Finally an IFA Magazine worth looking at
Response Percent
Response Count
0.5% 1.4% 41.5% 49.5% 7.1%
1 3 88 105 15
answered question skipped question
212 0
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3. Do you think that the magazine differs from others in the marketplace? Answer Options Very similar to other titles Somewhat similar No opinion Fairly unique Completely unique
Response Percent
Response Count
2.8% 22.6% 29.7% 41.5% 3.3%
6 48 63 88 7
answered question skipped question
212 0
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4. Is the magazine useful to you in a work context? Answer Options Yes No
Response Percent
Response Count
90.1% 9.9%
191 21
answered question skipped question
212 0
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5. Which parts of the magazine do you like, or find useful? Answer Options News Features Fund reviews FSA publications round up Compliance Doctor Light-hearted sections
Response Percent
Response Count
58.7% 55.8% 33.7% 37.5% 36.1% 28.8%
122 116 70 78 75 60
answered question skipped question
208 4
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6. What best describes your role? Answer Options Investment IFA, DFM or Wealth Manager Generalist IFA or Financial planner Compliance officer Restricted Financial Adviser Corporate IFA Paraplanner Other
Response Percent
Response Count
20.1% 54.6%
61 137
2.0%
4
4.1% 6.6% 1.0% 13.4%
8 12 2 26
answered question skipped question
194 18
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7. Do you select funds for your clients' investments and pensions? Answer Options No Yes – on platform Yes – direct Yes – through DFM Yes other Yes - other (please specify)
Response Percent
Response Count
11.2% 60.4% 23.1% 15.3%
25 128 49 24
10.0%
24 5
answered question skipped question
212 0
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8. Please tick all the boxes below that best describe you: Response Percent
Answer Options RDR ready (or will be) Fee based Wrap and platform user Highly qualified Financial planning approach Member of professional organisations Level 4 minimal qualification Sophisticated approach Investment and pension specialist ETF, Structured Products, OEIC and hedge fund familiar t/o > ÂŁ150k per IFA Part of network You can't put me in a box If more than one answer applies, please add it here:
69.0% 44.0% 82.0% 74.0% 59.0% 72.0% 31.0% 88.0% 33.0% 54.0% 77.0% 21.0% 19.3%
answered question skipped question
212 0
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9. On a scale of 1-10 (where 1 is poor, 10 is stupendous), how would you rate our website? Answer Options 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Response Percent
Response Count
1.9% 0.0% 0.5% 3.8% 17.9% 22.6% 31.6% 19.3% 1.4% 0.9%
4 0 1 8 38 48 67 41 3 2
answered question skipped question
212 0
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10. What adverts do you recall seeing in the magazine? Answer Options M&G Baillie Gifford Witan Lyxor BWD Octopus Vanguard Roland Dowell Henderson Swiss and Global Aviva Investors Schroders Aberdeen SIPP Centre Investec JM Finn Xafinity
Response Percent 62.3% 19.9% 15.2% 34.2% 14.2% 43.6% 46.5% 12.4% 43.6% 13.3% 45.0% 54.5% 38.4% 23.7% 55.5% 14.7% 18.5%
answered question skipped question
212 0
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11. Which other financial publications do you read? Answer Options Wealth Manager Professional Adviser Fund Strategy Investment Week Investment Adviser Financial Adviser Money Marketing Portfolio Adviser International Adviser New Model Adviser I don't read other magazines. IFA Magazine is the one for me.
Response Percent
Response Count
18.4% 49.5% 18.4% 40.1% 36.8% 65.6% 69.3% 17.0% 9.9% 40.1%
39 105 39 85 78 139 147 36 21 85
2.4%
5
answered question skipped question
212 0
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12. Please give us any other thoughts/feedback/likes/dislikes on the magazine: Response Count
Answer Options
34
answered question skipped question
34 178
“The graphics and layout are amazing. It’s a pleasure to read: glossy, luxurious and colourful. The articles are in depth, informative and enlightening.” “A good read” “Beautiful” “A simple read” “Very professional looking magazine with useful content” “All in; a very enjoyable and concise mag” “I would like to see more on mortgage especially buy to let” “Good layout easy to read....should not pester us too much with extras” “Good publication focused at a community that needs the knowledge right now.” “It’s jolly nice in a sort of quirky way. More power to your elbow.” “Education good.” “Still a bit too much on funds etc. Keep the increased content on planning etc going” “Like the fact it is a monthly as opposed to a weekly” “Fairly easy to navigate around. How about an iPad App so i can stream all the latest info.” “Fund reviews are excellent.” “It's very readable” “Well done.” “Good feedback on web site” “Overall quite professional” “I've never actually read it - take off the wrapper and pop in the recycling” “Too many landing on the doormat can't read them all.” “Great mag and love approach.” “Like the trading expert section” “You should really ask me to do a Guest Insight piece on discretionary manager selection.....I would love to!” “High quality magazine” “Nice to fresh things going forward when most people are saying the financial world looks bleak” “Nice :~)” “None I can think of” “I like the sturdy look and feel of it and the uncluttered layout” “I will make a point of reading it more” “One A4 a page with key points would be useful” “Like the quality paper, better than the majority.” “In terms of the readability/style, it is definitely ahead of the competition” “Stands out – gets my attention” 15 | P a g e
Conclusion: IFA Magazine’s goal upon inception was to provide a new form of B2B publication for the IFA Community. Our key performance indicators were to establish a title befitting to the higher qualified IFA and position ourselves as the magazine and web site of choice for IFAs in the run up to and post RDR world. Our survey amongst our readers (and also reflected in independent surveys) suggests that we are making an impact and achieving our desired goals very early on, therefore providing advertisers with a new effective communication tool to disseminate their marketing messages. The number of responders to the survey suggests we are engaging with our readers. A 2.12% response rate from just one e-mail prompt is significantly high. Our Editorial content is clearly proving popular and our macro approach is delivering on what IFAs wish to read. 66% rated the content as better than average with more than 90% commenting that we are useful to them in a work context – a reputation that advertisers can benefit from. Our Design and layout is clearly unique, positioning ourselves strongly. The high quality print is not only engaging and helping us to stand out, but also ensuring that we are seen as more befitting to a higher qualified audience and hence offer a more suitable and cherished vehicle for our advertisers. As per our positioning at the mid to top end of the IFA Market, these figures are replicated in our survey results. It is clear that we occupy this key sector and the cross over into the Investment and Wealth management areas. 90% of our readers select funds for their clients either directly, via their own platform, through an outsourced solution or by a combination of all, therefore ensuring that our readers are prime candidates to be influenced by fund providers. This sector is also responsible for the vast majority share of invested funds. Our survey also reflects that readers are well positioned for RDR and take a sophisticated and qualified approach to investing. Our web site (www.ifamgazine.com ) was re launched in March of 2012 and is now brand aligned with the magazine, standing out against the other all-too-similar other IFA targeted web sites. A staggering 93% approval rating is testament to the early adoption and benefit the site provides to users. This illustrates that advertisers can use as the site confidently in partnership with the magazine to provide a well rounded and balanced marketing mix. Finally, we believe the comments received are an incredibly accurate snapshot of the daily feedback we hear from IFAs and would invite advertisers to consider them seriously (even the tiny negative percentage that we have intentionally left in for perusal). IFA Magazine is different and overwhelmingly appealing and will be the magazine of choice post RDR. We would invite advertisers to benefit from our new engaging approach and use our skills to reach and influence our evermore loyal readers.
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