It can feel like a pretty tough time to be a financial advisor.
Between ongoing market volatility, daily tariff headlines, and geopolitical uncertainty, advisors today are navigating increasingly complex financial environments. All the while, they’re guiding clients who may feel panicked or anxious through high-stress and emotionally charged conversations about wealth, risk, and long-term planning. But what often goes unnoticed is the toll this takes on the advisors themselves.
In client service work, you’re often so focused on the clients that it’s easy to forget the importance of self-care. As leaders at SignatureFD, we’ve learned that in challenging times taking steps to ensure our advisors’ continued well-being can be critical. Supporting the well-being of our advisors isn’t a perk, it’s a performance imperative. We believe empowering advisors to show up fully and compassionately for their clients requires intention, support, and empathy from firm leadership.
Our approach is based on the philosophy that the support advisors offer clients should be mirrored by the support firms provide their advisors. That’s not just good management, it's the Golden Rule. If we expect advisors to show patience, empathy, and perspective during market stress, we need to extend that same care to them.
In a recent conversation with our chief advisory officer, Tim Maurer, we reflected on what it means to be an advisor to the advisor. It was a reminder that one of our leadership’s most important roles is to show up with the same intention we ask our teams to extend to clients.
As leaders, our responsibility is to check in, not just during the obvious moments of heavy workload, like end of year or tax season, but especially during unexpected turbulence. More often than not, advisors can internalize their clients’ emotions. They expend significant emotional energy expertly guiding others through fear and uncertainty. It is no surprise that burnout can creep in silently, even for seasoned professionals.
That’s why in our view, leadership must proactively check in with their teams. Ask how they are doing. Encourage them to decompress, seek support, and speak candidly. Sometimes the most important thing you can do is simply acknowledge the pressure they’re under. Allowing people to feel seen goes a long way.
However, truly listening means going beyond just being available – we believe it requires intention. We pay attention to sudden spikes in meeting volume, workflow bottlenecks and escalation trends. We supplement this with surveys, open forums, and regular leadership check-ins. This multifaceted approach helps us spot signs of strain before burnout takes hold.
Veteran advisors have experienced multiple major downturns, periods of extended uncertainty and the resulting strain on their clients. They know from experience that markets recover and panic is often short-lived. But newer advisors may be experiencing volatility and wild market swings for the first time. These early inflection points can be crucial in shaping how young advisors see their role and develop their emotional resilience.
Don’t assume every advisor is coping the same way. Younger team members may need more guidance, reassurance, and mentorship. That might look like debriefing tough client conversations, encouraging time off, or simply affirming the uncertainty they feel is normal.
Our belief is that real resilience is built in rooms where people feel safe, heard, and challenged to grow. At SignatureFD, we have institutionalized quarterly, in-person, day-and-a-half gatherings for our advisory team. These are high-impact sessions designed for real progress with external facilitation and a structure that includes:
These experiences build trust, sharpen skills, and reinforce that no one should feel they are carrying the load alone. That’s the foundation of a durable team.
Clients remember how you made them feel during hard times, and so do advisors. A kind word or thoughtful conversation during a high-stress moment can cement loyalty and strengthen retention over the long term.
While technology has transformed how advisors serve clients, it also offers leaders new opportunities to foster team well-being. Whether through systems that help monitor workloads or platforms that streamline internal communication, thoughtful use of digital tools can help firms stay attuned to advisor morale and engagement.
But no tool replaces the power of human awareness. Our view is that leaders must remain present and observant, asking themselves: What’s the energy like in the room? Are advisors energized or drained? Are they taking time to rest and recharge?
You don’t need elaborate wellness programs to make a meaningful impact—though those can be great. Start with the basics. Build a culture where self-care isn’t just encouraged; it’s the norm.
The most important reminder we offer to both clients and advisors is that market downturns are moments in time. They are not permanent There is a light at the end of the tunnel. It is a sentiment we share with clients regularly, but do advisors believe it for themselves?
We firmly believe advisors must have faith in the guidance they give. That's where firm leadership comes in once again, reminding them that this, too, shall pass. Offering perspective, not platitude. We liken it to going to the grocery store hungry, you don’t want to make big portfolio decisions when you’re anxious; you want to approach planning "full" and calm. That applies to advisors as much as it does clients.
In our experience, sometimes, the best antidote to pressure isn’t a process, it’s a release. Some of our most impactful moments aren’t strategy sessions. They’re informal, casual culture reinforcers. Team bonding lowers stress, builds camaraderie, and restores the human side of work. Especially when the markets are tense and the mood is heavy, these shared experiences remind us this is temporary, and we are in it together.
Leading accounting firms have developed remarkable best practices during tax season that include perks, bonuses, wellness stipends, even enforced time off. While the service we provide clients during times of widespread financial anxiety is different than an annually occurring ‘busy season,’ the principle is the same: when the pressure’s on, we strongly believe firms must show up for their people.
Let’s lead with empathy, curiosity, and care. Let's model the same emotional intelligence we ask our advisors to offer clients. In doing so, we not only build healthier teams, we build stronger firms, better outcomes, and a more resilient profession.
Heather Robertson is the chief executive officer and chair of the board of SignatureFD, an integrated and comprehensive wealth management firm with offices in Atlanta, Georgia and Charlotte, North Carolina.
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