Content provided by Case Eichenberger, CLS Internal Wholesaler

I hit the road this last week to work with, and meet, some of our advisors in the southeast. One of the points I picked up on and that came up in each meeting was: How accessible is your company to help me?  What can your firm do to answer questions myself and my clients have?  Do you have dedicated sales individuals for me to call? These can mean several different things and go in many different directions, but I believe CLS can help with all.

CLS is one of the largest, independently owned, third party investment advisors.  We work with hundreds of investment advisor representatives to be a fiduciary for their clients.  CLS is not a publically traded company, we are a family owned company, built on mid-western values, and we employ educated and skilled professionals that have those same morals.

With CLS, the advisors we work with around the country are not “just a number.”  We view the relationship with them as a true partnership and always have since our founding in 1989.  CLS has eight external wholesalers and eight internal wholesalers to work with advisors around the U.S.  Each external is available to work with advisors in their area for office visits, client meetings, client seminars, and much more.  Each dedicated internal wholesaler is here to assist advisors with questions they have on strategies and help determine what may be best suited for the end client.  CLS also has dedicated service and new account representatives to help answer any questions on currently managed clients or account-opening paperwork.

One area that specifically sets us apart from competitors is access to our Portfolio Management  and Analyst teams.  CLS has eight portfolio managers (PM),four of which hold the Chartered Financial Analyst designation, six investment research analysts, and 10 trading specialists.  All of these professionals are available for the advisor to access; whether it be working with a CLS PM to talk about the markets, specific investment decisions, or specific questions about a client account.

The PM team and many other dedicated individuals are here to help you get comfortable, answer questions, and in the end be a partner to the advisor to help build their book of business.  You see, at CLS, the advisor is not simply just a number- they are a partner, and we value that individual partnership.

2478-CLS-12/31/2013