Last week, we lauded the 2020 Best Places to Work for Financial Advisers. Companies of all sizes emphasized quality of life and self-improvement as ingredients for a healthy and productive (thus profitable) workplace and staff.
While the day-to-day demands of guiding the hard-earned wealth and financial well-being of others has its own ebb and flow, the stresses caused by the usual external forces — markets, interest rates, inflation, geopolitics — pale in comparison to the current struggle to make sense of a global crisis that’s been thrust upon us so suddenly.
The worldwide pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus has upended life as we know it. Without warning, the office life that we took for granted disappeared. Company outings and daily social interactions have been replaced by video conferences and virtual happy hours. For a time, it seemed novel, a welcome interlude. We’re all in it together, we said cheerily. But after nearly two months, the social isolation is becoming a source of stress and anxiety for many.
While financial planners won’t be mistaken for the brave doctors and nurses selflessly treating COVID-19 patients on the front line, they still have a responsibility — and not just a fiduciary one — to provide the same level of comfort and care for themselves as they do for their clients’ financial well-being.
Advisers themselves contend with the very same financial and emotional strains amid the historic economic downturn, and they will do better by their clients if they employ appropriate self-care.
“As financial advisers, we are doubly or triply at risk,” Kol Chu Birke, a financial behavior specialist at Commonwealth Financial Network, wrote in the April 13 issue. “Fee-based business revenues are shrinking while expenses stay the same. We are watching our own investments shrink as we are encouraged or forced to distance ourselves from those who bring us sanity. All the while, we must provide emotional strength and comfort to our clients and loved ones.”
In the absence of the traditional support network of colleagues and friends that advisers lean on in normal times, it’s important to create a healthy inner space that gives them the mental and emotional security — and acuity — to continue to serve clients who, during these unprecedented times, are looking for a lifeline both financially and emotionally.
Last week, Jeff Benjamin wrote about a surge in new clients coming to financial planners in April as the pandemic roiled markets in March and frayed investors’ nerves. It’s of supreme importance that advisers be well-prepared not just with sound financial advice but mentally to handle the fragility and fears associated with so much uncertainty.
“These are the times you train for as an adviser,” Sarah Newcomb, a behavioral economist at Morningstar Inc., writes in a contributed piece on Page 14. “These are the days when your leadership, poise and perspective can help clients overcome the forces of emotion that cloud their judgment.”
To create a healthy mindset, Birke suggests that advisers maintain their balance by engaging in simple activities: a walk through the neighborhood, writing an email of thanks, taking a bath. On the opposite page, we’ve compiled a selection of the many responses to a poll that asked advisers how they and their firms are coping in these trying times.
Remember: To take care of others, you must first take care of yourself. Be safe and stay well.
Canadian stocks are on a roll in 2025 as the country prepares to name a new Prime Minister.
Two C-level leaders reveal the new time-saving tools they've implemented and what advisors are doing with their newly freed-up hours.
The RIA led by Merrill Lynch veteran John Thiel is helping its advisors take part in the growing trend toward fee-based annuities.
Driven by robust transaction activity amid market turbulence and increased focus on billion-dollar plus targets, Echelon Partners expects another all-time high in 2025.
The looming threat of federal funding cuts to state and local governments has lawmakers weighing a levy that was phased out in 1981.
RIAs face rising regulatory pressure in 2025. Forward-looking firms are responding with embedded technology, not more paperwork.
As inheritances are set to reshape client portfolios and next-gen heirs demand digital-first experiences, firms are retooling their wealth tech stacks and succession models in real time.
