Financial advisors often promote their services by saying that they can help remove emotions from investing. In theory, advisors can use a variety of risk management tools, knowledge of capital markets, and long-term investing perspectives to help their clients avoid making costly knee jerk reactions.

Brexit is just one example, but it can be a powerful case study for advisors seeking to help clients understand why emotions should be curtailed by financial professionals who are armed with capital markets expertise.

In the months leading up to the Brexit referendum, markets climbed and declined in response to changing expectations for how the country’s citizens would vote. In the final days before the vote, investor sentiment strengthened as pundits increasingly said a vote in favor of the U.K. pulling out of the European Union was unlikely.

Many investors had previously feared that Brexit would hinder economic growth in Europe and create a challenging environment for U.S. companies and business in other countries that sell products in the continent.

Indeed, Brexit is likely to mean that U.K. will have to forge new trade agreements with individual members of the European Union and is likely to have to do the same with U.S. exporters.

When the Brexit referendum surprisingly determined that voters want to leave the U.K., panic ensured. On June 24, when the results were released, U.S. equities dropped approximately 3%. It was the worst single-day decline for the S&P 500 in nearly a year and wiped away the index’s gain for 2016, according CNBC.

By the end of June 27, the index had dropped 4.07%. The decline, however, was only temporary. Indeed, during the last three days of June, the S&P climbed 4.95% and, as of July 8, had generated a total return of 4.21% year-to-date.

Investors who panicked by selling in the days immediately after Brexit are likely to have sold during a dip, only to miss the strong returns when equities bounced back. With that in mind, advisors should explain to their clients that panic selling often results in selling low and then missing out on the strong returns that typically follow market dips.

They should explain, furthermore, that using portfolio diversification to cushion declines, maintaining a long-term perspective, and understanding the role of corporate fundamentals can go a long way in helping investors avoid panic selling.

Advisors should develop illustrations that show how having a mix of asset classes could have reduced the impact upon a portfolio of the post-Brexit market decline and that portfolio rebalancing may have resulted in buying equities during the market dip.

They should also show index performance numbers that illustrate how riding out historical market declines, including the correction associated with the Great Recession, would have allowed investors to recoup losses and then eventually achieve additional gains.

Finally, advisors should point out that corporate fundamentals don’t justify a major prolonged market correction. While overall corporate earnings in the U.S. have taken a hit due to cheap oil, many industries, such as Information Technology, are experiencing strong sales and improving profits.

Innovation, meanwhile, is allowing companies like Amazon.com and Netflix to rapidly grow their earnings by disrupting traditional business models with technology. At the same time, corporations are holding near record levels of cash, which is allowing them to buy back stock, launch dividends, and conduct mergers and acquisitions at near record levels.

All of those actions provide additional support to stock prices. The U.S. economy is also likely to support corporate fundamentals. While U.S. economic growth has been slow, many developments are encouraging, with the labor market strengthening, real estate values increasing, and consumers’ finances improving.

Collecting Social Security early can help retirees assess how much they can spend because the payments are consistent. So reports Wealth Management.

Also, proponents of waiting typically point to the 8% payment increase you get for delaying the payments. However, the nominal annualized reture when waiting a year is less than 8% and retirees will miss out on a full year of payments. 

Lastly, collecting Social Security may be more attractive than withdrawing money from an IRA when considering taxes.

Read the full article from Wealth Management.

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently awarded a whistleblower $3 million for information that helped the regulator crack a complex case of fraud. So reports ThinkAdvisor. The program was established more than three years ago and has paid out more than $50 million to whistleblowers.

Read the full article from Think Advisor.

Robert Renshaw has joined Edison, N.J.-based Fountainhead Capital Management as senior financial strategist. So reports TapintoEdison.

Fountainhead Managing Partner Marc Rock says Renshaw’s strength involves understanding each client’s unique circumstances and partnering with the appropriate team members to create customized strategies.

Read the full release from TapintoEdison.

Goldman Sachs’ chief economist Jan Hatzius says the U.S. economy is on track for a soft landing. So reports MarketWatch.

In a note to clients, Hatzius says that while “much can still go wrong and our probability that a (mild) recession will start in the next year remains about one in three, we see some encouraging signs that the economy is moving toward” a soft landing. To achieve that, he reiterated that the U.S. would need to see a large decline in inflation, “sustained below-trend output growth,” and a small rise in unemployment coupled with sharply lower job openings.

Read the full article from MarketWatch.

Fidelity is considering letting individual brokerage customers trade Bitcoin. So reports CoinDesk.

Fidelity reportedly has more than 34 million individual brokerage accounts.

Earlier this year, the investments giant said it plans to let corporate clients add the cryptocurrency to 401(k) plans it manages.

Read the full article from CoinDesk.

Wells Fargo analyst Douglas Beath said the death of the traditional 60/40 diversified portfolio is “greatly exaggerated.” So reports CNBC.

In fact, Beath noted it could be on its way to double-digit returns after a rough 2022 so far. Wells Fargo suggests that a 60/40 strategy should return 6% annually over the next decade.

“The historical returns of stocks and bonds, combined with more attractive valuations after the recent downturn plus long-term CMA projections, indicate to us that the 60/40 portfolio is alive and well and that it should continue to serve as a solid foundation for long-term investors,” Beath notes.

Some have argued that the 60/40 approach has “reached its expiration date” and are recommending different strategies.

Read the full article from CNBC.

Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, recently provided comments on the economy in the firm’s recent quarterly release—and it doesn’t sound promising. So reports CNBC.

Dimon notes that the economy continues to grow and that the job market and consumer spending remain healthy. However, he also warned that “geopolitical tension, high inflation, waning consumer confidence, the uncertainty about how high rates have to go and the never-before-seen quantitative tightening and their effects on global liquidity, combined with the war in Ukraine and its harmful effect on global energy and food prices are very likely to have negative consequences on the global economy sometime down the road.”

Read the full article from CNBC.

Financial advisors are more stressed out than their clients, according to a new study from the Financial Planning Association. More specifically, 71% of advisors are stressed out, while 63% of clients admit to feeling high or moderately stressed. So reports U.S. News & World Report.

That stress appears to be growing, as 28% of FAs report being more stressed than a year ago.

The article suggests FAs can help manage their stress by:

• Identifying stressors: whether it’s staying current with all regulatory requirements, shrinking margins, growing competition—or any number of things—it’s important to know the source of the stress so you can address it.
• Controling what you can control
• Accepting that you cannot control everything
• Planning and organizing
• Striving for work-life balance: this sounds easy, but it actually requires effort and discipline.
• Maintaining a healthy lifestyle: this is a choice and you need to choose healthy habits.
• Adopting a positive attitude: expecting the best, but preparing for the worse, is a helpful mentality to maintain.
• Pursuing happiness in life: this can help reduce stress, or at least make stressful times more bearable.

Read the full article from U.S. News & World Report.

The majority of American adults (68%) intend to donate a similar amount of money to charity this year as they did in 2021 despite the current economic uncertainty, according to a new study conducted by financial services firm Edward Jones with Morning Consult.

More adults (17%) are planning to increase their contributions than decrease donations (10%) this year, the study found. Of those who are planning to donate more this year, 39% cite social/political issues as the catalyst.
The survey revealed that the biggest barrier preventing people from donating is not having access to excess funds (61%). Other barriers include saving money to account for inflation (30% of givers and 20% of non-givers), being unsure about where the funds are going (26% of givers and 17% of non-givers) and not knowing where to donate (8% of givers and 5% of non-givers).

Read more about the study.

Wells Fargo, which has faced several accusations related to race and racial inequity, has agreed to a third-party racial-equity audit. So reports Banking Dive.

One such incident was revealed in an earlier news report which found a significant disparity in the treatment of white loan applicants compared to black applicants.

The audit, which will be conducted by law firm Covington & Burling, will examine the firm’s ties to diverse communities and efforts to promote diversity among its workforce. The audit will include input from stakeholders from both within the firm and outside it. The firm will publish the audit’s findings by the end of 2023.

Charlie Scharf, CEO of Wells Fargo, said the audit is a “critical next step in reinforcing our commitment to racial equity and closing the wealth gap in this country.”

Read the full article from Banking Dive.

In a class action suit, Blair Zigler, formerly a financial advisor at Edward Jones, is accusing the firm of failing to fix its pay disparity between its male and female employees. So reports Financial Advisor.

“Despite Edward Jones’ acknowledgement that it paid plaintiff Zigler less compensation for equal work, Edward Jones took no meaningful action to remedy past or future pay discrimination,” the lawsuit said, according to the article. “Instead, Edward Jones offered plaintiff Zigler a small salary increase that was not retroactive, and told her she would not be eligible for future ‘position-in-range’ increases that it had promised her.”

The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois earlier this month, claims that potentially more than 100 women workers should be awarded more than $5 million, plus interest and costs.

Zigler claims that women were treated as a "lesser class" by their male colleagues and were routines subjected to sexually inappropriate and objectifying behavior.

Read the full article from Financial Advisor.

Truly committing to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) can be powerful for a business, according to Charles Schwab Advisor Services’ Leslie Tabor. She is the director of business consulting services and education at the firm. So reports Think Advisor.

Tabor says firms should think of DEI as a business competency that supports its growth. “Future clients are going to be more diverse,” she tells the publication. “The following generation will identify with one or more diverse races or ethnicities. Diversity is just good for business.”

Tabor says that last year Schwab launched “a multi-year DEI roadmap and a 12-month action plan” as part of a program for clients. The effort led to 94 advisors embarking on a “five-month learning journey” toward building a more inclusive DEI culture.

Read the full article from Think Advisor.

Merrill Lynch added 93 “experienced advisors” in the second quarter, triple the number it added in the first quarter, according to its president Andy Sieg, the president of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management. So reports Advisor Hub.

The quarter’s tally marks the largest addition of experienced financial advisors since 2010. Sieg expects the hiring momentum to continue, or accelerate, throughout the year.

Read the full article from Advisor Hub.

Last year Edward Jones launched a pilot program to allow brokers to share office space. Now, the company has indicated allowing brokers to team up is coming, breaking with its longstanding solo practitioner model. So reports Advisor Hub.

By the end of 2023, each of the firm’s 19,000 advisors will be able to team up with another advisor to share a branch office. The firm is also testing allowing veteran brokers to add a junior partner.

A company executive overseeing branch development said that teaming “enables our branch teams to stay competitive and deliver on the complex needs of our clients and investors more effectively.”

Read the full article from Advisor Hub.

There have been many columns written about how millennials have rejected financial advisors in favor of self-directed platforms. But that’s not completely accurate. So reports U.S. News & World Report.

Many millennials may indeed be utilizing self-directed platforms, but that doesn’t mean they are rejecting financial advice. In fact, many may both need and be looking for financial guidance. A recent survey by the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) found that many millennials feel underprepared for retirement and this is due to inadequate financial guidance.

It would be more accurate to say millennials are rejecting the traditional role that financial advisors have played for generations, says Brian Stivers of Stivers Financial Services. Investment strategies have evolved and advisors need to as well. It can be as simple as virtual meetings, or developing e-tools.

Advisors also need to be articulate their value to millennials. And they need to remember many millennials have never experienced a real market crash.

Read the full article from the U.S. News & World Report.