The country’s wealthiest Americans report a significant increase in satisfaction with their financial advisor, Spectrem Group reported Sept. 24.
The report also found that investors are increasingly turning to alternative investments and tax-free bonds as they seek to grow their assets while minimizing how much the government takes from them.
Over 80% of investors with at least $25 million in net worth report being happy with their financial advisor. Satisfaction has increased steadily since 2007 when 61% of high-net-worth investors said they were satisfied. In 2010, 66% of investors said they were happy with their advisor.
More investors report using a full-service broker as their primary advisor, the report found. In 2012, 23% of investors said they used a full-service broker as their primary advisor, compared with 18% of investors who said they used an independent financial planner as their primary advisor. In 2010, 13% of investors were using a full-service broker and another 13% were using an independent planner as their primary advisor.
Accountants also enjoyed an increase in the number of investors who use them as a primary advisor, increasing from 8% in 2010 to 11% in 2012.
The report noted, however, that while these advisors experienced an increase in the number of investors who use them as a primary advisor, most investors are using more than one advisor. In fact, 41% of investors have three or more advisors. Just 27% say they use only one advisor.
Of the 41% of investors who work with three or more advisors, more than two-thirds work closely with them to cover day-to-day decisions in their portfolios. The report found 60% of those investors say they spend six hours or more each week making investment decisions with their advisors.