Natixis Global Asset Management released its 2015 Global Survey of Financial Advisors last week, which revealed that 83% of advisers think preventing clients from making emotional decisions is critical to their success.
However, the survey suggested advisers and investors might not see eye-to-eye, as less than half of the 7,000 investors surveyed believe avoiding emotional decisions will better enable them to meet their financial goals.
Mounting pressure
The report, which surveyed 2,400 advisers around the world, also found that more than half of the advisers said the rise in regulation was a significant challenge for their business.
“A spate of new regulations in markets around the world could challenge not just how advisers will deliver advice, but whom they can advise,” the report reads.
Mounting pressure from fees was underlined as a significant challenge by a third of advisers, according to Natixis.
Advisers in the Americas, Asia, Europe and the Middle East were surveyed for the report in June and July this year.
Boom and bust
“After 15 years of boom and bust, it’s no longer enough to ask clients to stay invested for the long-term,” the report reads.
“Advisers now need to help clients work through their emotions, educate them on the markets and investing, and help them develop a rational perspective that’s focused on achieving goals rather than responding to market events.”
Natixis also said the changing demographics will disturb the “foundations upon which [advice firms] have established their practices”, adding that advisers will need to “channel efforts in order to service clients with very different needs”.
Time is right
The survey found that 90% of advisers worldwide said their ability to demonstrate value beyond building portfolios as an increasingly important factor in their business.
“The time is right to counsel clients through these financial planning basics to ensure they are better equipped emotionally to handle volatile and uncertain markets,” it said.
