Two months into this surreal pandemic era, probably America’s biggest crisis since World War II, it’s worth recalling the words of Winston Churchill after the U.S. Navy defeated Japan in the Battle of Midway in June 1942. “It was not even the beginning of the end. But it was the end of the beginning,” he observed.
The situation may be completely different, but that is about the same stage we find ourselves in as the narrative unfolds. People are starting to learn how to cope in what a few have called the New Abnormal.
As a profession, the business of financial advice is likely to emerge as a winner. It’s also going to change in major ways.
For starters, technology is going to alter the way most service industries deliver advice and interact with clients. Office space will still be necessary, but less will be required, and it will serve different purposes.
But advisors who talk about delivering holistic advice are really going to have to walk the talk. The loss of life is tragic. For retired clients, health-care issues and where they decide to live is more important than ever.
Parents who were hoping their children would graduate from college and become financially independent so they could really start saving for retirement have to face the reality that over the next few years college grads are entering a far worse job market than existed after the Great Recession.
Clients who are near retirement or newly retired will be forced to grapple with what may be a prolonged period of near-zero interest rates and highly volatile equity markets. The dramatic decline and recovery of stock prices since late March have prompted many serious investors to voice fears that the risks outweigh the rewards.
Clients who own businesses are forced to deal with their own individual predicaments. Their loyalties to employees, customers, communities and their own self-interest are being challenged.
None of this is fair to anyone, but it’s the hand we’ve been dealt. To put it in perspective, it might be worth paraphrasing the observation of Ariel Investments’ co-CEO Mellody Hobson. During World War II, people in England, Germany and much of Europe were forced to stay inside for four years—and they had bombs falling all around them, she said. That experience should remind many of us how lucky we’ve been.