Advisors are worried about a little bit of everything, but the political environment seems to be high on their list of concerns, according to a recent study.
Financial advisors named market volatility as their top concern, but to a lesser degree than last year, according to the latest Eaton Vance "Advisor Top-of-Mind Index" survey.
While 64 percent of the respondents believe that U.S. market volatility will increase over the next year, Eaton Vance’s index gauging the level of advisors’ concerns over volatility has steadily decreased since the third quarter of 2016.
If the market does run into trouble, however, advisors indicated that they think political controversy will be the root cause.
“Advisor and client concerns dropped this quarter as markets rallied and volatility subsided,” said John Moninger, managing director of retail sales at Eaton Vance Distributors, in released comments. “However, there is an underlying feeling of wariness as we head into September, driven by political uncertainty, geopolitical issues and the pace of U.S. economic growth.”
According to the survey, 72 percent of advisors believe the U.S. political environment will be the biggest source of volatility for the remainder of the year.
As with volatility, concerns about generating income, creating growth and tax policies have all fallen over the past quarter, according to Eaton Vance.
In response to potential volatility, most of the respondents, 64 percent, are recommending that their clients maintain their current allocations. Almost paradoxically, the survey also found 46 percent of respondents advising clients to hold more cash than they did one year ago.
Despite an eight-year bull market in equities, 53 percent of the respondents said that their clients were more motivated by fear than greed. In the third quarter of 2016, 82 percent of advisors said that their clients were more motivated by fear. Almost half of the respondents reported in the latest survey said that their clients are anxious.
“Advisors are anticipating and planning for the next set of challenges their clients might face,” said Moninger. “In a time of uneven global growth and political uncertainty, it’s critical for advisors to respond in a thoughtful, rational way that allows investors to take advantage of undervalued opportunities that can potentially lead to long-term rewards.”