HQ Search, Inc. has provided successful Growth Advice™ consulting to numerous companies large and small. Here are several representative examples.

1. For a $2B AUM money management and brokerage services company wanting to launch a major growth initiative by reversing its recent inability to attract significant numbers of financial advisors with sizeable books of business:
• Identified goals:  (1) double/triple the number of top tier financial advisors in their wealth management group; (2) capture additional synergies/profits among their different departments—broker/dealer, sales/trading, research, private equity, investment banking, and wealth management; (3) assess current management's capabilities to identify, attract, and secure the highest producing financial advisors that would fit the Firm's culture.
• Assess internal and external resources:  through market intelligence gathering and confidential interviews.  Summarize in confidential report to CEO.
• Recommend a recruitment process that Firm's own staff could implement. 
• Support internal recruitment efforts with marketing material development and random sampling of effectiveness of their efforts.
• Proposed an alternative HQ Search, Inc. retained recruitment campaign that would save Firm at least $750k of costs involved in the hiring of 30+ financial advisors.
• Informed CEO of limited window of opportunity to secure these 30+ financial advisors before significant additional costs were incurred in the process.
• Educated CEO on current market opportunity caused by major players in an active buying mode of money management firms with $1B - $5B AUM.
• Recommended that CEO choose to pursue a larger company to acquire Firm unless he was completely committed to investing extensive resources necessary to maintain and grow Firm.
• OUTCOME:  Firm acquired by a major well-known company and CEO named to a top management position in larger company.



2. For a startup company that was awaiting round two financing with a product of interest to financial services firms:
• Reviewed a C-suite position draft description.  Recognized that impediment to their search efforts was the comingling of two different positions.  Recommended changes that resulted in Firm filling positions quickly on their own and at less cost than anticipated.
• Proposed a different sales and marketing distribution system.
• Refined a solution to a concern with product that enabled another revenue stream to be generated for buyers.  Identified a potential investor in that solution.  Reviewed possible ways to expand ancillary business at minimum cost while avoiding potential pitfalls.
• Quantified ways to reach revenue goals; defined sales metrics for business plan projections; educated regarding related industries sales metrics including human cost of capital, parameters of likely revenue boundaries, etc. 



3. For a major multi-billion dollar AUM international hedge fund firm that had ancillary product lines under increasing new competition:
• Defined sustainable competitive advantage traits process, which included conducting competitive analysis, focus groups, positioning maps, surveys, and SWOT analysis to achieve optimal branding, new product identifications, and sustainable competitive advantages identification.
• Recommended that senior management seriously consider selling ancillary lines to other firms as market conditions were ripe to garner top profits from such a sale before products became commoditized and co-opted by industry leaders with analogous main business lines.
• OUTCOME:  senior management sold ancillary lines to a well-known Wall Street firm.



4. For ABN AMRO:
• Conducted a global compensation study for a specific niche sector that identified the correct ranges for their senior executive compensation to be positioned slightly above their individual market value.
• Demonstrated how to adjust for different countries’ tax and benefit structures in overall compensation packages so as to retain global team compensation parity.



5. For Morningstar:
• Conducted an intensive compensation study of all equity and mutual funds analysts in the greater Chicago area to establish a competitive compensation package for professionals within a new department.
• Recommended titles for professionals in this new department that were implemented and were acceptable to their clients.



6. For The University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business’ Executive Education Program:
• Designed and conducted brainstorming sessions and/or interviews with over 100 CFOs (Chief Financial Officers) working for Midwest firms with annual sales greater than $500M in order to identify the key factors and terminology that would encourage maximum attendance at future programs.



7. For an over $10B annual revenues international bank:
• Conducted a compensation study where the numbers captured by HQ Search’s Growth Advice™ service demonstrated that the Bank’s prestigious consulting firm’s compensation numbers were inaccurate due to rapidly changing market conditions.
• OUTCOME: saved Bank from losing a number of its top professionals to competitors who had already raised their compensation levels and were beginning to target this Bank’s stars.

For further information and to arrange a meeting, please contact HQ Search, Inc. at 630.466.7095 and inquire about Growth Advice™ consulting.