According to a survey conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of McAdam knowledge gap exists between what Americans think financial advisors do and the roles that they actually play.
More than one-third of Americans who participated in the online survey said they don’t believe they have a strong understanding of what financial advisors do.
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Nearly 46% of Millennials (18-34 age group) said they do not have a strong understanding of what a financial advisor does, compared to 31% of their older counterparts that say they do not have a strong understanding of what a financial advisor does.
According to the report, there is a 19 percentage point difference among those that believe they have a strong understanding of what a financial advisor does from ages 18-34 (54%) to ages 65+ (73%).
About 34% of the respondents held the view that advisors help people assess career decisions, while only 19% opined that advisors help clients navigate through personal relationship issues.
Even in case of individuals with a strong awareness of the job of advisors, only 36% believed that advisors help clients assess career decisions, while 21% believed that advisors helped clients resolve personal relationship issues.
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By GlobalDataOnly 34% held the view that advisors helped clients navigate through life changes, while 20% cited that advisors did not help clients keep more of the money they make.
However, 91% of the respondents said that advisors helped them plan for retirement, while 90% said that they helped them in selecting investments.
McAdam group vice president Phil Simonides said: "Relationships and finance may not appear to go hand-in-hand, but we deal with foundational relationship issues all the time when we meet with clients. In estate planning, it’s very common for people to want to pass down money on their own terms. We often find ourselves in the position of helping them balance what they want to happen with what will make their loved ones happy."
