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If you do not find the answer to your question here or for additional information, please feel free to contact us.

General Information
What is the Financial Advisor Panel?
Who manages?
Who is eligible to join?
How do I join?
Is there a fee to join or participate in surveys?
Will I get paid for this?
Why do you ask me information about myself?
How do I update my personal profile information (e.g. email address?)
Who are some of your sponsoring Clients?
Will I always know who sponsored your survey?
What do you do with the survey research data?
What if I no longer wish to be a panelist?

Panelist Participation
How will I be notified of survey opportunities?
How quickly after joining should I expect to start receiving e-mail invitations to complete surveys?
When and how often will I be asked to participate in a survey? Why haven't I been asked recently?
How much of my time will be required?
What if I don't want to participate in a particular survey?
Do you measure respondent satisfaction?
What if I have difficulty accessing the link for the survey questionnaire?
How do I receive a copy of my survey input? How do I receive a copy of the survey results?
Can I suggest a question to include in one of your surveys?

Panelist Privacy Protection
How do you protect my information?
Will a Client Sponsor have access to identifiable panelist information?
How will you use my responses to your surveys?
Will I receive junk mail or sales calls?

Q1. What is the Advisor Panel?
A1. The Advisor Panel is an actively managed research panel. It is a group of financial advisors who have agreed to support ongoing research. They share their views and opinions by answering survey questions (e.g. financial related topics, brands, practice management, products and services) from leading investment product and service providers. The Advisor Panel encourages its panelists to provide input, participate in the exchange of ideas, and ultimately learn how their feedback and study results help influence survey sponsors.

Q2. Who manages?
A2. The Advisor Panel is maintained and managed by DGL Consultants, an independent management consulting firm. DGL abides by the Council of American Survey Research Organizations (CASRO) guidelines for survey research in protecting respondent confidentiality, and all relevant US regulations regarding privacy.

Q3. Who is eligible to join?
A3. You must be a licensed or registered Financial Advisor in order to join the Advisor Panel. All prospective panel members are verified against FINRA and SEC databases to guarantee that panelists are who they say they are.

Q4. How do I join?
A4. You will need to complete a request to join the Advisor Panel. After you submit your request to join, we will send you an email with a link that you click on to opt-in as a panelist and complete your profile.

Q5. Is there a fee to join or participate in surveys?
A5. No, membership in the Advisor Panel is free. We will never ask you for money, or try to sell you anything.

Q6. Will I get paid for this?
A6. Not necessarily. Each survey invitation includes details about any incentives.

Q7. Why do you ask me information about myself?
A7. We use the information to send you surveys that best match your profile. All personal information that you provide remains confidential and used purely for research purposes. Please review our privacy policy to find out more about how your information is protected.

Q8. How do I update my personal profile information (e.g. email address?)
A8. If you change your e-mail address, broker-dealer, phone number or mailing address, please send an email to the Panel Administrator with your updated information. All submissions to the Panel Administrator are confirmed.

You are also provided the opportunity to update your profile as you complete surveys throughout the course of the year.

Q9. Who are some of your sponsoring Clients?
A9. Clients include: Investment Management and Wall Street Firms, Insurance Companies, Pension/Retirement Services Providers, Mutual Fund and Annuity Distributors.

Q10. Will I always know who sponsored your survey?
A10. Yes. Typically, disclosure of the Client Sponsor is made in the email invitation, but we may on occasion field a "blind study" (where the sponsor of the survey is not cited in the email invite). In this instance, the identity of the Client Sponsor is disclosed to panelists after completion of the survey.

We consider identification of the Client Sponsor to be a best practice, although it is not specifically required by CAN SPAM.

Q11. What do you do with the survey research data?
A11. We use your responses along with other participants' responses to inform clients about advisor attitudes and opinions about their products and services. Your personal information is not linked with your responses. Collected data is used to improve investment products and services.

Q12. What if I no longer wish to be a panelist?
A12. Participation is voluntary; you may leave the Advisor Panel at any time.

Q13. How will I be notified of survey opportunities?
A13. Panelists are notified of survey opportunities by email invitation.

Q14. How quickly after joining should I expect to start receiving e-mail invitations to complete surveys?
A14. Panelists are invited to take part in surveys as and when they become available for their profile. It typically takes a couple of weeks to a month for new panel members to start receiving email invites to surveys.

Q15. When and how often will I be asked to participate in a survey? Why haven't I been asked recently?
A15. We make every attempt to keep our panelists active. We rotate panelists on a regular basis to provide all members an equal chance to participate and minimize panel fatigue. However, many times, our surveys apply to specific profiles. The average panelist qualifies for and participates in less than 6 surveys each year.

We can only include you in our surveys if we can reach you via email. Don't forget to let the Panel Administrator know if your contact information has changed.

Q16. How much of my time will be required?
A16. All survey invitations include information about the length of the survey and average time to complete.

Q17. What if I don't want to participate in a particular survey?
A17. Participation is voluntary. We may send a reminder email in case you have simply forgotten to take a survey, but the choice is yours.

Q18. Do you measure respondent satisfaction?
A18. Panelists always have the opportunity to leave comments about the survey they completed. This information will be shared with clients when asked and/or deemed appropriate.

Q19. What if I have difficulty accessing the link for the survey questionnaire?
A19. If you have difficulty and are unable to access the questionnaire, please contact the Panel Administrator. We will respond to you as quickly as possible.

Q20. How do I receive a copy of my survey input? How do I receive a copy of the survey results?
A20. Upon completion of the survey questionnaire, respondent panelists are asked: (1) Do you wish to receive a copy of your survey input; and (2) Do you wish to receive a link to the survey results?

Q21. Can I suggest a question to include in one of your surveys?
A21. Yes, we welcome your input. Please forward your suggestions to the Panel Administrator.

Q22. How do you protect my information?
A22. We make every effort to ensure proper safeguards are in place to protect the integrity and confidentiality of information collected. For additional information please review our privacy and security policies.

Q23. Will a Client Sponsor have access to identifiable panelist information?
A23. No, your responses will never be connected to you or your personal information.

Q24. How will you use my responses to your surveys?
A24. Your responses to our surveys are confidential. They are pooled with the answers of other respondents and reported only in the aggregate.

Q25. Will I receive junk mail or sales calls?
A25. Absolutely not. Any information collected by the Advisor Panel/DGL Consultants is used exclusively to support our research efforts. We will never sell or otherwise make available your personally identifiable information to a third party.