Fasten your seatbelts: Investors expect turbulence, look to advisors for help

Investors are bracing for a bumpy ride in coming months.

“Many investors predicted choppy waters in 2022, and at the moment it seems some of their concerns were not unfounded,” said Eric Henderson, president of Nationwide Annuity.

People with investable assets of $100,00 or more anticipate an increase in market volatility (61 percent) and are concerned about a U.S. economic recession (69 percent) over the next 12 months, according to the latest Advisor Authority study from the Nationwide Retirement Institute.

When asked to identify how the past financial crisis that had the most profound impact on them changed their approach to investing, investors indicated they chose to manage investments more conservatively (20 percent), adopt a new strategy to protect assets against market risk (17 percent) and use the market decline as a buying opportunity (17 percent).

After living through past financial crises, advisors and financial professionals have confidence in their ability to help clients weather the storm:

• Seven in 10 financial professionals feel more confident about their ability to help protect their clients’ finances and investments if another crisis arises. This compares to only 44 percent of investors feeling more confident in their abilities.
• The same percentage also feel more confident about their ability to help clients prepare for and live in retirement, compared to only 41 percent of investors.
• Two-thirds of financial professionals feel more confident about investing their clients’ assets in the stock market, compared to only 38 percent of investors feeling confident in their abilities.

“Advisors and financial professionals have navigated tough times in the past, and that has helped them feel more confident in their ability to advise clients in moments like we’re experiencing now,” Henderson said. “They have a tremendous opportunity to not only calm nerves but also offer new solutions that may help clients feel more protected from elements beyond their control.”

With market risk and volatility top of mind for investors, 93 percent of advisors and financial professionals currently have a strategy in place to help protect their clients’ assets against market risk.

Among those with a strategy, preferred solutions include diversification (55 percent), fixed annuities (48 percent) and fixed indexed annuities (46 percent).

For long-term planning, 92 percent of advisors and financial professionals have a strategy in place to protect clients against outliving their savings, including Social Security (51 percent), dividend yield stocks (49 percent) and variable annuities with living benefit riders (48 percent).

“Advisors and financial professionals have a prime opportunity to begin fostering relationships with the 37 percent of investors who haven’t sought out professional guidance,” Henderson said. “The volatile first quarter we’ve just lived through may be just the wake-up call they need to start taking steps to protect their financial future.”