Why new clients are looking for more education and support

That’s different than what she saw in the summer during the increased market volatility.

“There was more concern for my clientele then. I spoke to quite a few of them in the summer, just to explain what was going on because they were seeing these rumours of recession in the headlines and then the stock markets were already down,” she said. She had to correct their perception that an economic recession equals a stock market decline. Clients weren’t necessarily nervous, given what they’d already experienced financially during the pandemic, she said, “but a lot of them were really after information and education.”

Shipley-Strickland noted that her clients, both female and male, tend to be very relationship-focused, so like to have deep conversations about their goals and wealth. But she’s also seeing an increase in the number of millennial clients who have had some career success, so are looking for financial advice to meet their goals, which could include an earlier retirement than their folks.

She’s also noticing that younger clients are coming from the banks even more than robo-advisors, where they might have been struggling with dealing with the post-pandemic volatility.

“We think the volatility has helped because there’s a whole sea change going on here,” she said. “But, yes, I think clients want that human connection again. They’re seeing the limitations of what a robo-advisor can do. It’s not necessarily bad if they want to use it for their trading account or to manage a small portion of their portfolios themselves. But, I’m seeing more clients wanting that support from an advisor to look at their overall wealth.”