Selling annuities in a volatile market, part 1

First you had the dot-com bubble burst at the beginning of last decade. That was followed by the housing bubble, which I was covering in Southern California and witnessed much of that devastation firsthand. And, finally, the markets crashed in 2008.

With all that volatility, it seems a perfect fit that consumers would make a flight to safety. Some have, but others are still holding out. I know, from talking to many of you, that you’ve been a true advisor to these shell-shocked consumers. You’ve guided them through some rough times and gotten them locked into safe products such as annuities.

From our most recent survey, we learned additional information from senior clients that we found interesting. We asked seniors: “What is the number one thing you are looking for in a financial advisor?”

• 59 percent said trust.
• 25 percent said experience.
• Only 4 percent said they put the highest value on a variety of products.

This is great news for readers of our pages and website. You’ve built relationships with these clients over years, even decades. And these clients aren’t out there looking for the shiny new toy. They’re looking for safety. They’re looking for an opportunity to have their money with them throughout their retirement. Annuities and other safe products are a great way to help them reach those goals.

We also asked them: “What is the number one thing you look to avoid in an advisor?”

• 66 percent said “pushy” sales types.
• 21 percent said “too expensive.”

Ultimately, these clients and prospects are looking for trust, experience, safety and an advisor who can lead them threw the volatile times. We’ll be back next week with more info on why annuities are the right call in volatile times.

For more from Daniel Williams, see:

• Coach, teacher…annuity advisor?
• Annuity marketing and the issue of gender
• Will seniors still buy annuities?