Distributors say that a deep knowledge of financial products, as well as a thorough understanding of the regulatory climate in which financial institutions operate, are both crucial to success in this market.
Regulated Industry
"You have to be a specialist," Hough said. "Most distributors only have five banks; you can't survive on that. It won't justify the costs of maintaining the necessary knowledge base." Memberships in local and national banking trade organizations, as well as reading industry publications, help keep his company abreast of regulatory changes and how they will affect banking forms. "We specialize in contract language in documents—that's our differentiation. I've got a library wall of regs going back to the early 1970s," he said.