In the face of an extended pandemic, advisors say that they’ve learned to roll with the punches.

In fact, advisors seem to have found greater success in keeping in touch with their clients and handling the sometimes tumultuous emotions that came along with the drastic changes in lives and lifestyles caused by Covid-19, according to a survey by the CFP Board.

Nearly three-fifths of CFP professionals, 58%, reported increasing the frequency of client contact during the pandemic, with 71% of those advisors reaching out three times as much as they had before the pandemic.

As a result, advisors’ greatest reported challenges shifted from an April 2020 survey to this year. This year, the top challenges named by respondents were conducting virtual meetings (named by 21% in 2021 versus 11% in 2020), working remotely (13% versus 9%) and new client acquisition (12% versus 13%).

Last year, CFPs reported that their top challenge was maintaining communication with clients and prospects, named by 18% of survey takers, but this year it ranked last among advisors concerns, named by only 3% of survey takers. Similarly, 2020’s second-most named challenge, the emotional factors of the pandemic, which was named by 17% of respondents, ranked fourth in this year’s survey, named by 6%.

But the emotional factor may also be driving new clients to seek out professional financial advice. Half of this year’s respondents reported that inquiries from prospective clients had increased as the pandemic evolved, up from 34% in April 2020.

Advisors with the CFP designation are also responding to the pandemic by engaging in volunteerism and pro bono work. This year, 74% of respondents reported volunteering in some way over the past year, and 76% of respondents reported that it is important to offer pro bono services to people in need. Most CFPs in the survey, 62%, reported offering pro bono services during the pandemic.

The survey also found high levels of satisfaction among CFP professionals, with 93% reporting they were strongly satisfied with their career choice in financial planning and the same percentage saying they were strongly satisfied with their decision to pursue the CFP certification.

“CFP professionals have consistently reiterated two very important and encouraging trends: that they are overwhelmingly satisfied with their career choice in financial planning and their CFP certification,” said CFP Board CEO Kevin R. Keller in released comments. “These results continue to prove that earning CFP certification is the most important step you can take to accelerate your career and help your clients achieve their financial dreams.”

The study was conducted by Fondulas Research using a random sample of 950 CFP professionals between April and June.