Volatile times make for worried investors who don’t understand their portfolios and will bail out on good investments at the worst times. They are panicking at the first sign of trouble or volatility. What’s to be done?

Those were some of the issues addressed at a fund event in Manhattan on Monday.

Financial professionals need to take the emotion out of risk, so they are dropping the stocks at the worst time. Others don’t understand risk and carry too much of it. The bottom line: The money management business, along with the investor, are feeling pain. Indeed, over the last decade, most funds have suffered net outflows, warned John Hailer, president and CEO of the Americas and Asia for Natixis Global Asset Management, which held the press conference.

“We need comprehensive portfolios and we need to eat our own cooking,” he said.

The market’s recent declines are an opportunity to pick up bargains, speakers said.

“This is the time to build a portfolio for the next five to seven years,” according to Elaine Stokes, vice president and portfolio manager for the Loomis Sayles Fixed-Income Group.

David Herro, chief investment officer for Harris Associates and portfolio manager of Oakmark International, calls the market “a dream environment for value.”

Besides education, what should advisors do for investors with weak stomachs?

Diversify portfolios, possibly with the use of alternative investments, managers said. However, they added that clients must understand that, even in bad times, alternative investments can go down. These simple facts must be repeatedly explained, they said.

Nevertheless, alternative investments are doing well, another manager noted.

“We have had $5.5 billion net inflows into liquid alternatives, which is the 13th straight year there have been inflows,” noted Duncan Wilkinson, chief executive officer of AlphaSimplex.

Retirement investors often need lots of help and many are better off if someone else manages their investments for them, Wilkinson said, noting that  defined benefit investors have consistently done better than those in defined contribution plans.

Several studies have shown that “defined benefit [accounts] obtain higher returns with lower risks,” he said.

His conclusion?

Professional management can reap dividends for the average investor if he or she can effectively weather the storms of roller-coaster markets.