Investors keeping faith with advisers, survey says

Most investors are satisfied with the way their portfolios have held up in the market downturn, according to a survey by Natixis Global Associates of Boston. A full 59% reported that their asset allocation held up as well or better than expected during the market turmoil, while 41% said they were disappointed. The survey, released today, was conducted by Richard Day Research Inc. of Evanston, Ill., and canvassed 600 investors 44 years and older with a minimum of $250,000 in investible assets, between Nov. 6 and 11. Nearly half, or 48%, of investors without advisers said they were dissatisfied with how their asset allocation held up, while only 38% of investors who worked with advisers said they were dissatisfied. Most investors did not make changes to their allocations. Fifty-four percent reported that they stayed the course, and 27% said they reallocated some of their portfolio. Only 15% cashed out. A full 81% of those surveyed said their advisers had handled their situation as well as one could expect. But advisers didn’t get high marks on preparing their clients for market volatility — 29% said their adviser did not prepare them on how to handle severe volatility. A full 43% of retirees said they were satisfied with the expectations set about investment performance, compared with only 33% of pre-retirees. Also, 69% of retirees said they knew what their retirement savings were invested in and the reasons the investments were chosen, compared with 59% of pre-retirees. Natixis Global Associates is a division of Paris-based Natixis Global Asset Management, which had $781 billion in assets under management as of Sept. 30.