Mutual fund firms have not been arming their advisor networks with sufficient online practice management resources, a new report from Corporate Insight showed.

The New York-based research and consulting firm found that only half the firms it tracked provide their advisor base with adequate resources to carry out a more effective business strategy.

The report, entitled "Practice Management: Firms Fall Short, Fail to Address Back Office Issues," examined the Web sites of 14 firms and evaluated practice management resources using criteria such as accessibility/organization, topics addressed and types of materials.

The report found that of the 14 fund companies, four had no practice management materials on their site, while three had limited materials in place.

One explanation for this is that fund firms are placing so much focus on helping investors make the sale, neglecting the provision of online practice management tools in the process, said Alan Maginn, senior analyst for Corporate Insight's Mutual Fund Monitor-Advisor.

"Most firms do not offer delineated sections of their Web sites devoted explicitly to back-office management resources," Maginn said, pointing out that practice management tools are typically integrated within the context of larger business building or prospecting platforms.

Making things more confusing, Maginn said, was that some topics "traversed the line between front-and back-office issues."  

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