John Hancock trying to grow client base in Syracuse

CNY Business Journal (1996+), Mar 21, 2008 by Reinhardt, Eric

CLAY - Empire Financial Partners (EFP) - an office of the John Hancock Financial Network is settling into its newest location at 4713 Crossroads Park Drive in the town of Clay.

Syracuse native J. Michael Burns III was selected to be the site manager and opened the office in July 2007. EFP's main office is in Buffalo, with other affiliate offices in Rochester, Utica, Albany, Saratoga, and Erie, Pa.

For Burns, who had been working in Utica for the past 12 years, it was a chance to come home.

"The reason that I took this position is because I know there are thousands of policy holders in this area who haven't seen a John Hancock agent for many, many years. We're going out there, we're putting a face with the name, we're re-establishing a relationship, we're updating our files," says Burns.

Burns says it's his intention to let policyholders know that there is an established John Hancock office in the area. His office has contacted 300 policyholders to date, and associates have met with about half of those clients.

Since July, his office has generated about $285,000 in commission dollars, with a total revenue figure so far of more than $400,000. It includes annualized premiums for life products, long-term care products, and annuities.

John Hancock is a national insurance and investment marketing organization. Burns describes EFP as a full-service, financial-services firm, offering every-thing from life insurance and long-term care insurance to mutual funds, annuities, 401(k) plans, and college savings plans. Boston-based Signator Investors, Inc. serves as John Hancock's retail broker-dealer and registered investment advisor.

Burns believes in making sure his company is the right lit for potential clients, acknowledging that while he does want to sell them John Hancock products, he also doesn't want clients "putting a square peg into a round hole."

He adds, "So, if there's a situation where the John Hancock product doesn't fit, and sometimes that happens, then we can go out, and we can, through our broker outlets, find other products to make sure that we're meeting the individual's needs," says Burns.

EFP also emphasizes training for its agents, advisers, and registered representatives.

It has a marketing director and a training director. Burns believes EFP has all the personnel in place to bring in agents or advisers from other companies, have them be successful, and advance their standing and experience as a financial-services representative.

The Syracuse-area branch - located inside the Crossroads Commons off Henry Clay Boulevard - has eight agents and will add at least four more this year. Plus, he's also added someone to handle telemarketing and administrative duties. Rums says he will likely move the office to a bigger location when the time is right. For now, EFP leases the 1,500-square-foot space from the Anderson Barney Real Estate Management Group for 51,700 per month. Altogether, EFP has 110 employees in its nine offices.

Burns has worked in financial services since 1992. He started out with Equitable and also spent time as a regional vice president with AXA in New Hartford. While working as a partner with New York Life, he says John Hancock came along and gave him an offer he couldn't refuse.

"And the offer was that I could come back to this area, which I've wanted to do because I've been in Utica for the last 12 years, and basically run my own operation. And that's what I've always wanted to do."

Burns shares the office and works closely with Jeffrey Keyes, the sole member of Keyes Financial Group, LLC.

Keyes does business through John Hancock and Empire Financial Partners, but because he's an independent planner, it doesn't make up his entire workload.

"The reason that I'm housed here in' the same office with Mike is that we share a broker-dealer. A broker-dealer is an organization that clears your securities transactions, and if you are with the same broker-dealer, then you can share office space, and so forth, in the financial-services industry," explains Keyes.

The difference between the two is that Burns works solely for John Hancock, while Keyes is licensed with as many as 60 different insurance and financial-service companies, including John Hancock.