The group is also aggressively fighting to retain the “advisor” title its members use, a title that the SEC’s “best interest” proposals would prohibit unless practitioners are SEC-registered investment advisors. To that end, NAIFA has launched a new website, AdvisorsYouCanTrust.org for consumers who want to locate a NAIFA advisor or read investment news and articles.
The survey of 694 NAIFA members was conducted between Dec. 19, 2018, and Jan. 8, 2019. All of the survey respondents are licensed to sell insurance products, and 64 percent say they are registered to sell securities.
Results show NAIFA advisors go beyond product sales to offer advice and planning, the survey found. More than eight out of 10 (83 percent) provide retirement planning. Other leading services include: financial risk management (66 percent), inheritance or business succession planning (64 percent), college savings planning (61 percent), and financial literacy education (50.4 percent).
“A number of advisors told us that the financial planning and literacy services they provide are just as important to many of their clients as the insurance and investment products,” Mayeux said. “Very often, these advisors receive no direct compensation for this educational component of working in their clients’ interests.”
The top investment products NAIFA advisors recommended to clients over the past year are: Roth or traditional IRAs (recommended by 63 percent of advisors), mutual funds (54 percent), 401(k) or 403(b) plans (36 percent), bonds (13.3 percent), and stocks (13.3 percent).
The top insurance products the advisors recommended to clients in the past year are: term life insurance (recommended by 95 percent of advisors), whole life insurance (80 percent), universal life insurance (71 percent), long-term-care insurance (70 percent), disability-income insurance (68 percent), and fixed annuities (63 percent).