In-Person Client Meetings Return as Pandemic Dims, Volatility Remains

A recent survey shows that advisers are doing more in-person meetings amid overall increased client touchpoints.


Edward Jones financial adviser Jesse Abercrombie said the COVID-19 pandemic, although it forced physical distance, actually drew him closer to his clients.

“The pandemic had so much to do with meeting people where they were at,” says Abercrombie, who works with individuals on retirement and financial planning out of his Plano, Texas-based office. “Everyone was affected by the pandemic, and at the end of the day we are all people, which is why across the industry and, I know at our firm, more frequent engagement became the norm.”

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That engagement, of course, was happening mostly over video. But while the trend toward more frequent client touchpoints continues, Abercrombie says now the video touchpoints are often rotating between in-person touchpoints.

“You can’t replace human interaction,” Abercrombie says, recalling a recent lunch meeting with a client he had not seen since the onset of the pandemic. “That is what is important—having that interaction with a client, seeing their body language, having that laugh or human connection that is very hard to do over Zoom or through an electronic communication.”

That in-person shift, according to a recent Edwards Jones survey of 200 financial advisers, is happening for more than just Abercrombie. In-person meetings are now the most common way for financial advisers to communicate with clients (38%), as followed by email (24%), phone calls (23%) and virtual meetings (16%).

Let’s Talk

Market volatility, inflation and financial news such as recent bank failures have all been driving more client engagement with their finances, according to the Edward Jones report. Seventy-six percent of advisers say they have increased engagement due to the current economic conditions, with communication happening monthly (44%) or weekly (42%), followed by several times a month (10%) and quarterly (4%).

“Those are staggering statistics, because, as an industry, there used to be this sense of annual meetings, but now we are communicating much more,” Abercrombie says.

While advisers may be speaking more with clients, some surveying shows that may not mean great satisfaction with services. In a J.D. Power study released in April, the consumer intelligence firm saw a dip in investor satisfaction with full-service investment advisories in 2022, as compared to 2021.

When markets are down, as they were in 2022, adviser satisfaction can fall with it, the firm’s head of wealth solutions, Tom Rieman, said in a statement accompanying the research: “Adviser satisfaction continues to track overall market performance, and this points to a systemic problem in our industry: adviser value propositions grounded in investment performance.”

Only 11% of advisers offer personalized guidance on all financial and wealth management needs, according to the JD Power survey, which surveyed 6,168 investors from October 2022 through January 2023. In contrast, 42% of advisers deliver transactional advice, and 47% offer goals-based advice, the firm found.

From Tech to Touchpoint

Financial wellness providers, from advisories to recordkeepers, have been ramping up offerings that use digital touchpoints to open the door to one-on-one advice and counseling.

This April, Voya Financial Inc. launched a program to provide participants with online investment advice and fee-based managed accounts that provide personalized investment counsel. Earlier this year, SageView Advisory Group LLC launched its own advice offering, PersonalSAGE, designed to give participants a personal assessment of their finances and one-on-one access to financial coaches.

Despite those efforts, participant engagement in financial wellness offerings can lag the purported need. In a survey released Thursday by financial wellness provider BrightPlan, fewer than half of 1,400 workers surveyed use any of their company’s financial benefits, even though 95% said their company should offer them.

That lack of uptake is reportedly happening even as 85% of the same respondents said they have debt, and 48% say their debt load is more than they can manage.

“By not using their benefits, workers are missing out on important opportunities to improve their financial situation,” said Dan Schawbel, managing partner at Workplace Intelligence, which helped conduct the survey, in a statement. “For most of the financial benefits we asked about, we found that around one out of four employees have no idea if their company even offers them.”

Meanwhile, adviser Abercrombie says he has found success in getting clients’ focus by first identifying their overall values and goals, then basing meetings on the appropriate “themes.” That way, instead of just giving an “update” on their finances, they are having discussions about areas of interest and need.

“I think it’s important that, as advisers, we are connecting with clients around their values and goals,” Abercrombie says. “That can be multiple goals, like starting an emergency savings plan, creating an estate plan or managing a mortgage. … Through technology we can see those goals and see how they are progressing.”

Adviser Product Partnerships

SMArtX adds 25 strategies to unified managed accounts platform, including from Fidelity and Nuveen; Goalsetter partners with Envestnet; Holistiplan tax planning technology now available to Advisor Group; and more.


SMArtX Adds 25 Strategies to Unified Managed Accounts Platform

SMArtX Advisory Solutions announced it has added 25 strategies to its unified managed accounts platform. The platform now features 1,198 strategies from 288 asset management firms.

Firms such as Fidelity Institutional, Janus Henderson, Nuveen Asset Management, Renaissance Investment Management and WCM Investment Management each added new strategies to their presence on the platform.

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“These venerable asset management firms can decide to distribute their strategies anywhere,” said Evan Rapoport, SMArtX Advisory Solutions’ founder and CEO, in a statement. “We are privileged to feature these establishments and their strategies as we continue to expand our UMA solutions to more and more enterprise firms, which provides the greatest scale and opportunity for strategy distribution.”

Goalsetter Partners With Envestnet to Provide Financial Advisers With Wealth-Building Tools

Goalsetter, a family-focused financial education platform, announced it is partnering with Envestnet Inc., a provider of intelligent systems for wealth management and financial wellness.

The partnership hopes to provide financial advisers with the tools their clients need to reach their long-term goals for building generational wealth.

“We know that generational wealth is not attainable without generational knowledge,” said Tanya Van Court, Goalsetter’s CEO, in a statement. “Goalsetter’s education-first financial solutions are designed to transform both family finance and family financial acumen, and Envestnet is a perfect partner to help us evolve the role of wealth managers from individual advisers to family-focused financial partners and supporters.” 

Ensuring advisors can engage all family members with innovative tools like Goalsetter’s financial education and savings platform means they can better help their clients build a foundation for achieving generational wealth,” said Dani Fava, head of product innovation at Envestnet.

Holistiplan Tax Planning Technology Now Available to Advisor Group Advisers

Holistiplan, a tax planning software company for financial advisers, announced a strategic partnership with Advisor Group.

“Our core mission is to help advisors provide richer planning for their clients, and this partnership with Advisor Group helps fulfill that in a huge way,” said Roger Pine, CEO and co-founder of College Station, Texas-based Holistiplan, in a statement. “This is a tool that is already being used by more than 16,000 advisors across the country.”

Holistiplan will now provide discounted access to its platform to all advisers affiliated with Advisor Group. The firm’s software was built to systematize and automate the process of reviewing a client’s tax return to find potential planning opportunities.

“We are thrilled to partner with Holistiplan to give our advisors access to the No. 1 tax planning software on the market,” said Zachary Parker, senior vice president of retirement and income planning for Advisor Group, in a statement. “We see tax planning within the broader financial planning process as a key differentiator for financial professionals.”

Tufts Medicine Partners With meQuilibrium to Support Employee Emotional Health 

Tufts Medicine Inc. has selected meQuilibrium to support the mental well-being of employees within its health system.

Tufts Medicine health system employees can now access meQuilibrium, a digital offering to help users understand the thinking patterns and habits that cause them to feel overwhelmed, anxious or burned out. Real-time access to data and analytics allows Tufts Medicine to impact targeted behavior change.

 “The healthcare industry is facing unprecedented levels of stress, compassion fatigue, absenteeism, burnout and attrition,” said Jan Bruce, CEO and co-founder of meQuilibrium parent company New Life Solution Inc., in a statement.

“Tufts Medicine is prioritizing its employees’ well-being and we are glad they have chosen our science-based resilience platform to meet the needs of their employees, prevent burnout and reduce turnover. They are taking measures to care of their employees, just as they care for others.”

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