Planners still bearish despite market rebound
For the first time financial planners are less optimistic than retail investors when it comes to domestic stocks, according to Investment Trends.
The firm’s latest research found that planners remained bearish in their outlook despite the stock market rebound following the global sell-off in March.
The research said planners were more likely to advise clients to invest their excess cash (24%), than reduce exposure to markets (9%).
Investment Trends research director, Recep Peker said: “To meet their top priorities of diversification (66%), liquidity (38%) and capital growth (37%), planners most often intend to expand their product set and prioritise high quality asset managers”.
The research also found that generating income in the low interest rate environment was planners’ top challenge (66%) in servicing retiree clients. Mitigating market risk (38% up from 30%), and educating retirees on their finances (19% up from 16%) were cited as growing issues.
Planners were also more likely to favour flexible products, especially the ability to access funds when required (56%) and altering income levels (53%).
“To effectively help planners and their retiree clients navigate this low yield environment, it is also essential that product providers satisfy their strong desire for flexibility,” Peker said.
The research found that there was growing popularity for webinars for education content at 49%, up from 36% in 2019. Email newsletters were still the more popular at 36%.
In the last 12 months, 82% of planners (up from 63%) attended a webinar organised by investment product provides (82% up from 63%), while over a quarter listened to a podcast (27%).
Magellan, according to the surveyed planners, had the most impactful communications with 13% saying it was the ‘best’ for roadshows, webinars and videos. Magellan was followed by AMP Capital (10%), Pendal (9%), Perpetual (9%), and Colonial First State (9%).
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