Advisors tend to overestimate their clients' knowledge
Financial advisors vastly overestimate their clients' knowledge about investing and their willingness to take risks, according to a new survey by Accenture.
Advisors are three times more likely to describe their clients as very knowledgeable about investing than the investors are themselves (42% versus 12%), says the firm.
While virtually no advisors described their clients as unknowledgeable when it comes to investing, 25% of those investors felt they really didn't know that much at all.
The results also suggest advisors are more than twice as likely to see their clients as aggressive investors than the clients themselves (28% versus 13%).
All of this may be due to the fact that advisors actually overestimate the strength of their customer relationships. Two thirds of advisors claim to have a personal relationship with their clients, whereas only 38% seem to feel the same way.
“Our research suggests that financial advisors need to focus on better understanding their clients’ views and objectives to foster closer, more trusting relationships,” says Alex Pigliucci, global managing director of Accenture Wealth and Asset Management Services.
Too true. Here's a recent case where advisor and client were never really in sync from the outset. Does it sound familiar?
Do you feel your advisor has an accurate sense of your investment personality?
By Gordon Powers, MSN Money
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