Financial advisors worry that clients' emotional reactions to market events could harm their businesses and their clients' financial well being, according to a survey by Natixis Global Asset Management.

The 300 advisors polled cited clients' emotional reactions to market movements (90 percent), managing investor behavior and confidence (88 percent), and persuading clients to stick with their financial plans (84 percent) as their main concerns.

“When investors make emotional decisions, they decrease the odds of reaching their financial goals,” said John Hailer, chief executive officer of Natixis Global Asset Management in the Americas and Asia.

Ninety-one percent of advisors said they have embraced the principles of goals-based investing, according to Natixis. More than three-quarters (78 percent) said they encourage clients to set specific personal goals for their investments, rather than focusing on a particular index or benchmark. And 71 percent of advisors encourage their clients to have a target return that is independent of overall market returns.

As a result, 84 percent of advisors believe their clients are happy if their investment goals are achieved even if their portfolio underperformed the market.

“Financial advisors cannot control the markets, but they can head off adverse reactions by creating portfolios designed to stand up in a variety of market conditions,” said Hailer.

Seventy-six percent of advisors said their business grew in the last few years, and they expect their business to expand by another 18 percent, on average, over the next 12 months.

Only 14 percent of advisors attributed the growth of their business to strong market performance. Seven in ten advisors attributed the growth to new assets from existing clients (49 percent) or new clients (22 percent).

And almost all advisors (96 percent) are confident their clients' portfolios are well positioned to take advantage of the current bull market cycle, according to Natixis.

However, most of the advisors polled (84 percent) are concerned about the effect rising interest rates and inflation could have on their clients' portfolio. Fifty-seven percent said that if interest rates increased in the coming year, they would change investing strategies, and 53 percent said they would change strategies if the stock market dropped severely.

Advisors and clients should agree on what to do before market-changing events occur, added Hailer. “By doing this, they can help take the emotions out of investing.”