Most affluent investors say they plan to move money from their financial advisors, but most advisors say they haven't lost clients, says a new report from Tiburon Strategic Advisors.
According to the Tiburon report Current Events: Making Sense of The Impacts, more than three-quarters of investors with more than $1 million in investable assets say they plan to take money away from their current financial advisor. Only 2% of investors with more than $1 million in investable assets plan to recommend their firm to other investors, the report says.
Almost all financial advisors feel stressed about the market downturn but surprisingly, more than three-quarters of financial advisors say they have not lost clients, and in some cases have even gained clients, the report says. Almost three-quarters of financial advisors expect to maintain their customer's allocation in equities.
So how can it be that more than three-quarters of affluent clients say they plan to move money but three-quarters or more of advisors say they haven't lost clients?
Charles "Chip" Roame, Tiburon's managing principal, says Tiburon thinks many financial advisors aren't being honest-that more have lost clients than are admitting. Also, Tiburon thinks that many clients haven't acted yet. "Many clients are shell-shocked and have just gone to cash or have asked for a fee reduction but haven't moved their dollars," he says. He adds that some clients may not have invested incremental money, which is a loss to advisors but one that can't be measured.
Financial advisors can take several steps to rebuild their clients' confidence in the market, including frequent contact and addressing emotional responses to the market, revisiting client objectives, and pointing out the extent to which last year was an anomaly, the report adds.