These Female Clients Love Their Financial Advisors—Here’s Why

To pay for the costs involved with living longer, retirees – especially women – need to work with advisors and stay invested in the markets, according to a group of clients who spoke Friday at the 2015 Women’s Symposium hosted by Raymond James.

“Many of my friends are scared to invest,” said Rita Droney, who works with a Raymond James employee advisor in the Tampa area. “My argument is with them, and I’ve been educated thanks to information from my advisor, Kevin Caldwell. You have to be able to make money to fight inflation, and we will be around a long time. Otherwise, without being invested in the [stock] market, you will run out of money.”

Droney, who joked that she would like her advisor to stop the market’s current bear movement, explained, “I can’t get people I know to understand this. [Being in the market] is almost a necessary evil.”

To be and to stay invested, she adds, it is vital to have an advisor who is compassionate. “We had a good start to our relationship … and I feel comfortable in it,” Droney stated.

The client, who used to work in real estate, was one of four women to share their views on advisor-client relations before an audience of about 300 advisors and 200 other guests at the St. Petersburg event.

“So many people I know are too afraid to pay for advice and to invest [in the markets],” said Yvonne Wiseley, a retired insurance agent who works with advisors Jeff Hearn and Bill Hoyt in St. Petersburg, Florida. “But they try it on their own. They buy and sell stock, and then some go broke.”

High-Touch Approach

The four clients described their desire to get more than just generic information from their advisors and to be able to forge a personal relationship, rather than work long distance.

“After I lost my husband, I got so much help,” Wiseley explained. “I meet with them several times a year and look forward to the meetings. I don’t know what I would have done without them.”