I think investing advice still means something to clients—and I personally believe a financial professional does add value to plans and portfolios. Nothing can protect an individual completely from market volatility, but I align our clients’ portfolios with their risk tolerances to help ensure that they’re comfortable with their wealth management choices. It’s all about listening, planning, executing, and monitoring the plan I have in place in partnership with the people I serve.
Research¹ has consistently found the best way to maximize returns across every level of risk is to combine assets and allow individual securities to generate alpha. Assets fall under three broad categories—stocks, and cash equivalents or money markets—but could also include property or real estate, commodities, futures, and cryptocurrencies, to name a few.² Once we understand a situation, we can begin to construct a plan, using different asset classes and instruments, products and services, to deliver a holistic strategy.
What I recommend to a client depends on that client’s specific, individual needs. There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all approach in wealth management.
¹ Markowitz, 1952; Sharpe, 1964; Brinson, Hood & Beebower, 1986; Brinson, Singer & Beebower, 1991; Ibbotson & Kaplan, 2000.
² Akhilesh Ganti, “Asset Class Definition,” Investopedia, accessed February 27, 2020, https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/assetclasses.asp.