IDS Financial Services

Abstract

The contents of this paper have been divided into five separate sections: Internship Overview, Macro Analysis of Financial Planning and IDS Financial Services, Micro Analysis of Financial Planning and IDS Financial Services, Competitive Analysis, and finally the Overview. The Internship overview briefly explains where the WESIP took place, what it consisted of, and what objectives I set out to reach. The purpose of the Macro Analysis is to explain the recent upsurge in the financial service industry through the use of demographics. Also, define personal financial planning and describe its function while looking at the history, trends, and future of the industry. In the Macro Analysis section I also review IDS's current place in the industry while looking at its history, trends, and success. The Micro Analysis section pertains to the function and goals of IDS Financial Services and describes the characteristics and responsibilities of IDS Financial Planners. In this section the Planner's requirements, training and certification, compensation, incentives, and management structure are described. The Competitive Analysis section reviews the competition In the financial service industry, including; banks, brokerages, financial consulting firms, life insurance companies, and a comparison of financial planners and brokers. This section also looks at what characteristics of the competitors and what each is striving for. The final section, the Overview, reviews the finding I have made and gives the results to the objectives I set out to reach. This also includes my personal view of the industry and of IDS Financial Services.