Commiseration the theme of a volatile 2011

2011 has been a volatile, nerve-racking, sleep-deprived year for financial advisers, according to a year-end survey by the SEI Advisor Network. “It's been the year of volatility and it's required a lot more hand-holding and a lot more education from advisers for their clients,” said Steve Onofrio, managing director. “In general, advisers had to spend a lot more time with their clients this year than last.” Michael Byrne, one of 205 advisers who participated in the survey, agrees with that assessment but said the wildly volatile markets presented an opportunity for him to reach out more to clients and strengthen existing relationships. “It has been a stressful year, but not nearly as bad as 2008,” said Mr. Byrne, who works with Lighthouse Planning Consultants, a part of Lincoln Financial Group. “It hasn't been a crisis with everything going down and down more. In fact, in some ways, it's been a blessing in that it allowed us to talk to a lot of clients we might otherwise not have and to strengthen those relationships.” Most advisers agree that the year has been difficult, but over 70% ranked it less challenging than both 2008 and 2009. The top five bullet points from the survey, said Mr. Onofrio, are: � Investors are not as risk-tolerant as they thought. � Investors want advisers to manage volatility in accordance with their investing objectives. � If their investment goals are long-term in nature, they can handle the volatility better. � Investors want more personal communication with their advisers. � They want the communication to address more specifically their financial goals. As far as what dominated conversations with clients in 2011, 39% cited Europe and global instability. That was followed by the possibility of another market correction (19%) and retirement issues (17%). The biggest worries in terms of global markets for advisers were the eurozone nations (59%), the United States (32%) and China (4%). Over 44% of survey respondents said the top priority for their firm was to strengthen existing client relationships, while 32% said it was expanding their client base. Mr. Byrne expects financial markets will continue to be volatile in 2012 and that high levels of communication will continue to be the norm in the coming year. “We view it as a chance for more unscheduled service opportunities,” he said. “And that's a good thing.”