What Does a Wealth Manager Focus On?

I have a piece up at the Wall Street Journal today that talks about what the actual focus of someone managing wealth should be.  It seems many industry professionals change their minds on this depending on what the ticker tape looks like in any given period.

The clients of a financial advisor can afford to be capricious, but they’re paying fees to a manager for the opposite.  I believe that vigilance should not be fading in and out of the top priority position no matter what the environment…

Surveys of financial advisers are always a snapshot reflection of the day or week in which the data is collected.  Do a survey of financial advisers on a risk-on day, with the Dow screaming 300 points higher, and your results will significantly differ from a poll taken during a spate of Euro Crisis-induced selling.

A new survey released from Cogent says that RIAs believe their clients are now more concerned with “volatility” – a code word for losing money – than anything else.  As all advisers know, clients are only concerned with one type of volatility: the downward type.  Upward volatility in their holdings is no problemo.

Keep reading:

Market Volatility and the Priorities of an Adviser (WSJ)