5 things in advisory this week 04.09

Here’s what happened this week:

1. Financial planners are under pressure to continuously show value to their clients. One of the best ways to do that is to help clients make better financial decisions. There are three habits you can start to instil in clients to see their wealth grow, these include: encouraging them to review their financial situation regularly (myprosperity can help with that one!), evaluate the reasons behind spending decisions (did they really need that extra car and all the costs that came with it?), and finally, allocate money only to financial instruments the client understands. There’s more here.

2. Working from home? Adviser John Rowbottam from Shadforth recounts his experience of increased video conferencing and the blurring of family and work life as he acclimatizes to working from home. Sound familiar? There’s more here.

3. Is there really an advisor exodus going on? According to new research from Investment Trends the number of Australian advisors has actually held steady over the past decade. While most accounts show adviser numbers have dropped 15% from 27,329 in 2019 to 23,173 in 2020, Investment Trends research director Recep Peker points out that the 2019 figure was artificially inflated by adviser flocking to get themselves on ASIC’s financial adviser register in order to avoid doing FASEA’s professional year – inflating the numbers by 10%. More here.

4. Earnings season is done and dusted and what have we learned? Well, Mark Draper, financial adviser with GEM Capital Financial Advice says: “With around 70 per cent of companies either not issuing future earnings guidance or withdrawing earnings guidance – coupled with some market sectors trading on extremely high valuations – the job of assessing investment value is difficult. The best opportunities ahead are less likely to be found in this year’s reporting season stars.” More here.

5. Bank of America reveals a shocking stat showing why traders should stay invested during tough times — or risk missing out on massive gains. Missing out on the market’s 10 best trading days per decade since the 1930s means the difference between a portfolio gaining 17% over the period or surging 16,166%, according to the team. More on that incredible stat here.