Building Trust When

Realistically, most advisors shouldn’t expect to manage 100% of their clients’ assets and shouldn’t even try, says Ann Arnof Fishman, commenting on the recent Hartford study of relations between boomers and their financial advisors.

Fishman, president, Generational-Targeted Marketing Corporation, New Orleans, La., says boomers historically have resented authority figures. “So, they are not going to give you 100%.”

Building trust with boomers calls for an advisor who is less an authority figure and more a part of a team. “And the boomer should be part of the team, too,” she adds.

“You have to have the right credentials, but you don’t ever want to present yourself as the authority because baby boomers like to be hands-on and expect to be in control. And if they give suggestions, take them seriously. Boomers expect that.”

Another point to bear in mind is that, in general, boomers expect to be treated special.

“Because there are so many of them, the waves always have parted for them,” Fishman says. “When they were kids, most had stay-at-home moms. There were new schools built for them. They were the best-educated generation up to that time.”