Arlene Moore has coped with the market's ups and downs more than 20 years as an adviser, but the most recent downturn has been different.
She became so upset that she gave up her morning exercise routine in favor of an extra hour of sleep and found herself becoming angry at everyone.
“Normally, I don't let the market get to me, but this time, I was beating myself up,” said Ms. Moore, proprietor of Moore Financial Strategies LLC in Sarasota, Fla. “I was angry at the people who put us in this situation and angry that none of them was suffering. This is my first meltdown in my whole life, and I'm 62.”
Ms. Moore is not alone. Of the 582 advisers and others who took an online stress assessment from April 21 to May 6, 56% exhibited elevated levels of stress. Of those, 30% posted scores indicating they weren't coping well.
The assessment, provided by the Lennick-Aberman Group of Minneapolis, was offered as part of a recent
InvestmentNews webcast (see story on Page 24) about emotional intelligence and how advisers handle stress during tough times.
Ms. Moore said the results of her assessment showed that she was “not coping well.” But she said that she recently started to think more positively, has resumed exercising and is “snapping out of the funk.” Ironically, she said, sharing her feelings with clients helped reduce their stress and put them at ease.
While revealing negative emotions may not be what an adviser would typically do, it's the right course of action, according to Doug Lennick, principal of Lennick Aberman Group in Minneapolis, and Shani Robins, a clinical psychologist and founder-director of The Wisdom Therapy Institute in Palo Alto, Calif. Both took part in the May 6 webcast and said that clients feel comforted when advisers share their emotions.
For stressed-out advisers, both experts suggested easy-to-implement techniques — including deep-breathing exercises and meditation — that reduce stress and can improve an adviser's outlook very quickly. Other stress-alleviating adjustments may require more work, because they require changing ingrained patterns of thought, the experts said.
“Advisers like to think they can predict things,” Mr. Robins said. “But this market is taking away the illusion that they're miracle workers.”
Mr. Robins said that advisers must realize that they are not to blame for clients' losses, as they have no control over the market. Instead of bemoaning what's gone wrong, they should show compassion for their clients and focus on what they have to be thankful for, he added.
Timothy Parker, an adviser with Hudson Capital Management LLC in Ridgewood, N.J., whose test score revealed a high level of stress, said coming to grips with current realities is challenging.
“The hardest part has been dealing with things that obviously aren't under my control,” said Mr. Parker, whose firm manages $15 million in assets. “It's difficult to talk with clients and to deal with their emotions, but you can't hide from it.”
The reason many advisers are so stressed and depressed is because they view their businesses as successes if they beat the market, Mr. Lennick said. “Unfortunately, too many advisers converted themselves into quasi-portfolio managers, and their value proposition has been killed.”
Mr. Lennick also believes that one of the biggest downfalls for many advisers is being overconfident. The humbling that has come with the recent downturn may lead to a more positive outlook, he added.
E-mail Lisa Shidler at [email protected].
