'We're seeing more people want to look at GIC rates,' says one advisor

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Ruston, who has about 200 clients and $60 million in assets under management, said a couple of clients have moved on because that’s exactly what they want to do. But his firm is gaining clients and he’s noticed their fear has increased as they’ve gone through COVID and market volatility, and rising inflation and interest rates, and now face the threat of a recession.

“They’re wondering when the next shoe is going to drop, and that’s caused some concerns in some sectors,” he said. “But, overall, we continue to move ahead and communicate with our clients and, hopefully, they have confidence in what we, as their money managers, can do and everyone can come out of this in a positive way.”

He noted that he tells his clients that he’s been in the business for 38 years and seen a dozen market drops, some even more substantial than this, and each time they’ve returned. 

“But, when you’re in the middle of the storm, even if you’ve been through it before, they’re still wondering what’s going on,” he said. “We’ll pull out of it. It’s just a matter of when and, hopefully, the use of medications won’t have escalated so dramatically as they deal with their stress levels.”