The Financial Planning Association is launching new research to help determine why investors behave the way they do.
FPA is partnering with Capital Preferences, a worldwide consulting, research and financial behavioral organization, and T. Rowe Price for a research project to better understand investor behavior, FPA announced Monday.
“New technology, regulations and customer changes are redefining what it means to truly understand clients of financial services,” said FPA in a statement. The study is designed to help advisors better understand their clients and provide a benchmark for measuring the services they provide. The results of the research will be released at the FPA Annual Conference in Chicago in October.
The research will focus on how financial planners are evolving to deliver more holistic advice; what advisors need to do to support behavioral coaching and add value to the services they provide, and what technologies and tools are delivering the best results to help learn about clients, according to the FPA.
“As a financial planner, I need to be able to understand my clients and what drives their investment decisions. Having this understanding will allow me to best serve their needs while driving value in the services they receive,” said FPA President Frank Pare.
A benchmarking survey for planners is now on the FPA website. It is open to all planners and concludes July 25. A second wave of qualitative research will be conducted through September, with participants drawn from the online survey and other sources that identified advisors with best practices. All research participants will receive a benchmarking report that will enable them to measure their client understanding practices against those of the greater advisory community, according to the FPA.
The study also is designed to provide the step-by-step roadmap that planners can use to change their approach to understanding clients, the organization said.
“The firms and advisors that excel in the next decade will be those that know their clients best—the ones that turn client understanding into their competitive advantage,” said Bernard Del Rey, CEO of Capital Preferences.