Distribution Administration Guide for CEOs

Synfinii—our brand since September 2025—was previously known as SalesPage.

The evolution of distribution administration is a story of growing complexity. Early days, the process was elementary. Paperwork would be completed, a check written/mailed, and the transfer agent would process the transaction and open an account. The relationship stayed primarily between the advisor/investor and asset manager. Then, the 1980s happened. Wires and broker dealers streamlined operations by phasing out the paperwork and replacing it with omnibus accounts. All the activity was aggregated at the account level and trades were sent to the transfer agent/custodian. This cut back on the paperwork and made managing relationships with investors better for the advisor, who got one statement to review. The downside? The asset manager lost sight of the client.

Today, asset managers have ever-expanding distribution relationships and manage tens to hundreds of distribution agreements. Understanding the complex relationships between distributors, clearing platforms, and fees can be overwhelming. As the variety of agreements and fees grow, so does the challenge of tracking financial attributes, identifying which distributor relationships are profitable, and making informed decisions about where to focus resources. Key data points alone are not enough; asset managers need a way to analyze these complexities and align their distribution strategies with profitability goals.

Consolidate Key Data for Comprehensive Revenue Analysis

SalesPage enables the analysis of key data, which helps you gain a comprehensive view of your revenue streams. With different types and formats of data from multiple service providers, it all needs to be consolidated to calculate gross and net revenues. SalesPage’s Distribution Data Platform helps by delivering clean, organized data on:

1. Clients – who they are, so you can associate them with the right selling agreement.
2. Financials – data from clearing platforms that intermediate transactions from the clients.
3. Products – what products are sold, with detail at the CUSIP/share class level.
4. Territories/channels – associated with the business.

With these critical data points, you can build the foundation necessary to perform revenue analysis. To achieve the full picture of profitability, the next step is to integrate this data with additional inputs—such as client, learn, and product feeds, and commissions paid out—and leverage tools like data marts or warehouses to aggregate the data and a reporting/BI tool to get a clear revenue picture.

This is where SalesPage adds value. Without clarity on the foundational data points above, accurate revenue calculation is impossible. SalesPage’s platform enables asset managers to:

• Calculate profitability with different client types, distributors, partners, teams, and products.
• Track the impact of sales and marketing efforts.
• Identify opportunities for growth.

By organizing and delivering the essential building blocks needed to complete the process, SalesPage empowers asset managers to take control of their data.

With a view into the entire distribution chain—from product sales through broker-dealers to clearing platforms—asset managers can assess how fees from these partnerships impact their bottom line, ensuring they focus on relationships that truly drive profitability.

Example: CEO Decision-Making in Action

Imagine you’ve just paid $1,000,000 to Morgan Stanley for all the assets they’re holding on their platform. After reviewing your distribution and fee agreement inventory, you realize that half of those accounts are actually owned by one financial advisor (FA) team. Morgan Stanley’s fees should be attached to the business they’re clearing, but when you analyze this, you realize that the mix of business through Morgan is currently unprofitable.

This insight makes you question whether you should continue working with that FA team. By understanding the relationship between distributors and their clearing platforms, as well as the fee arrangements tied to them, you can start to break down how much revenue you’re collecting and which relationships are worthwhile.

Armed with this information, if this FA asks you to sponsor an event, you now have the data to determine whether it’s worth the investment. You might find that the fees from this partnership are too high relative to the revenue you’re generating. Once you account for the sales compensation, portfolio manager costs, and administrative expenses, the relationship may not be as profitable as you thought.

Further, by comparing different products, you might notice that selling one product generates significantly more revenue than another, even though both are sold through similar distribution channels. This analysis helps you adjust your commercial model—whether by changing how the products are managed, reallocating fees, or rethinking your distribution strategy.

This type of analysis—rooted in a thorough inventory of your distribution agreements and revenue streams—gives you a clearer picture of where your efforts are most profitable. It’s not just about the point of sale. It’s about understanding the entire landscape: your relationships with financial advisors, clearing platforms, operational costs, and product fees across your business. All of this helps you make better, more informed decisions about where to focus your resources and efforts.

Transform Distribution Administration into Profitable Decision Making

SalesPage’s distribution data platform is more than just a data repository—it’s a platform and partnership that empowers asset managers to make smarter, more profitable decisions. By aggregating, transforming, and enhancing client, financial, and product data, and enabling analysis alongside distribution fee agreement data, SalesPage helps you:

• Build a foundation for evaluating complex distribution agreements and fee arrangements.
• Assess the profitability of distributor relationships and product offerings.
• Make informed decisions that drive revenue growth and operational efficiency.

In a competitive and evolving marketplace, having a clear understanding of your distribution and revenue landscape is crucial. SalesPage helps you turn data into actionable insights by delivering the building block for profitability analysis, ensuring that your operations are streamlined and positioned for sustainable success.