Financial advisors say their business has never been better despite the Covid epidemic, according to the third annual “Advisor Wellness Survey” by Northern Trust Asset Management’s FlexShares Exchange Traded Funds.

In October, FlexShares asked 462 advisors how their business was doing. Many said they were under a lot of stress. 

However, 62% said they were able to grow their net assets under management during the pandemic, and 57% said they increased the number of clients they served. Only 7% reported a decline in assets and 6% reported a decline in clients.

The shift to remote work for many practices did not impact their business, either, they said. In fact, 51% saw the pandemic as an opportunity to spend increased time with their families while working remotely from home, as well as an opportunity to rethink their role or business model (46%).

Despite the unique challenges, advisors said their overall stress level in 2020 was essentially on par with 2018. On a scale in which 100% was most stressful, participants said their main source of stress was political uncertainty (48.3%). That outweighed factors such as state of the markets (41%). The markets were the top source of stress in 2018. 

Beyond the political climate, advisors remained consistently stressed about building their business (44.3%) and compliance and regulatory matters (43.5%). These things also ranked highly as sources of stress in 2018. 

Despite the challenges that marked 2020—when about seven in 10 advisors were uprooted from their normal work environment—overall career satisfaction and work-life balance were virtually unchanged and largely positive, according to the survey. 

Advisors reported occupational satisfaction of 78% in 2020, compared with 76% in 2018.

When asked what they loved most about being a financial advisor, respondents overwhelmingly stated that it was their ability to help and provide service to those who needed it (58%), followed by independence and flexibility (19%) and the relationships that they formed (13%). 

Approximately a third of respondents (36%) saw a silver lining amid the pandemic, which they said provided a renewed sense of purpose in their work.

Women advisors experienced higher levels of stress than their male counterparts (55.3% versus 46.9%), and stress levels higher than the national average of 48.9%.

According to the study’s findings, the stress was generated by a unique mix of factors affecting women more than men. From work, to family life, to keeping elderly parents or dependents safe from contagion, women said they felt squeezed by the responsibilities of work and family to a greater extent than men who participated in the study.