Financial advisers are apparently struggling to persuade their clients to share their rosy outlook of the markets
Financial advisers are apparently struggling to persuade their clients to share their rosy outlook of the markets.
A recent Russell Investments survey found that 59% of advisers are optimistic about the capital markets. But just 7% of those reps said their clients feel the same way.
That difference in perspective is putting more pressure on financial advisers to move beyond asset management into more of a hand-holding and consulting mode.
“It's clear that advisers have been struggling with a very jittery client base,” said Phill Rogerson, managing director in Russell's consulting-services group. “Advisers are having a really difficult time getting clients to engage in sensible advice.”
When asked to select what clients see as the top three obstacles to reaching their financial goals, 78% of advisers chose slow economic growth, followed by market volatility (61%) and investor cynicism (43%).
From their perspective, advisers said the biggest obstacles they see preventing clients from reaching their financial goals are underfunding of retirement accounts (60%), the federal budget deficit (54%) and slow economic growth (52%).
“Over the last two and a half years, all clients have become a lot more work because the magnitude of this downturn has really eroded investor confidence,” Mr. Rogerson said. “Even though we have seen signs of a recovery, investor confidence has clearly not come back.”
