Women financial advisors can be the eye of calm in the middle of chaos for their clients, even though they may be facing stress of their own, according to a trio of women advisory leaders.
While advisors and clients alike are surrounded by world crises and market volatility, having a stable financial plan in place is the anecdote to panic, the women said.
“Keeping people on track financially, and assuring them of where they are, provides a sense of normalcy that is critical in times like these,” where the world news is dominated by Covid and Ukraine, said Angela Osborne, chief operating officer of Bluespring Wealth Partners, a financial industry consultant that focuses on acquiring and servicing financial firms and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kestra Financial based in Austin, Texas.
Osborne said in an interview that some of the financial advisors she works with report seeing increasing stress levels among their clients. “The clients want to know how they are doing financially. They need to know a path has been charted to get them through these storms,” she said.
When times are chaotic, advisors go into full client support mode, added Michelle Barry, president of Grove Point Financial, a financial services firm and broker-dealer with $19 billion in AUM based in Rockville, Md.
Stress affects male advisors, too, but “women seem to have more empathy,” Barry said in an interview. “The news sends people into a tizzy, but those who have a financial advisor to rely on feel better. They know they have a plan in place and do not feel like they have to react to every shift in the world.”
Kris Chester, chief operating officer of Kestra Financial, a financial services firm and broker-dealer, agreed that women in general, and women advisors in particular, end up being the nurturers for loved ones and clients.
“We have to exercise focus on the things we can control and to practice gratitude,” she said, adding that advisors can pass that along to clients. “My clients are financial advisors. They lead with a solid financial plan for their clients for the longer-term.”
Chester noted that communication with clients is important at all times, but particularly when the world is in turmoil. “Communicating with clients is key. I am a client of a financial advisor and I know we have a plan in place,” she said.
Telling clients how they can take action to help in crises also is a good anecdote to worry. Kestra recently produced a video that dedicated time to telling people how they can help in Ukraine and what organizations are available to channel some of that action.