RSSOn May 20, 2010 I was attending day 2 of the NAPFA National Conference and the Dow Jones Average dropped 376 points. On September 15, 2008 I was attending a TD Ameritrade Conference and the Dow dropped about 500 points (and Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy).
I enjoy attending conferences (especially NAPFA conferences) because I have the opportunity to attend educational sessions on various financial topics and most importantly I have the opportunity to talk with and learn from my fellow financial advisors.
I mentioned this to a client and he thought that I should consider curtailing my conference attendance (I'm pretty sure he was kidding).
Hanging out with my NAPFA fee-only peers at a conference in the middle of a steep market drop is an interesting experience. Thanks to Blackberry's and other smart phones we were all able to check for market updates while listening to the excellent array of speakers at the conference. There was no panic, however. The lunchtime conversation was calm, mostly centering on the need to call just a few clients who might be inclined to panic.
There was one message on my office voicemail, a client wanted to discuss whether the drop meant this was a good time to put some cash to work. We agreed that it made sense to invest a portion of it.
This call represented one more call than I received on September 15, 2008 and during most other steep market declines. Why is this? I'd like to think that it is tied to the ongoing dialog that I have with my clients about how investing is a long-term endeavor and that market declines are normal. Maybe it is because they are not as compulsive about the markets and watching their accounts as I am.
If you are looking for a fee-only, client-centered financial advisor who signs a Fiduciary oath every year, perhaps you should check out the Find an Advisor section of the NAPFA website for a NAPFA member in your area
0 comments:
Post a Comment