A Clear Path to Client Satisfaction: Add Alpha, Stay Invested

In the next few years, a client’s evaluation of their advisor will boil down to the professional’s ability to do two things: add alpha and keep them invested. True, these have always been core components of an advisor’s role, but in the coming years they will take on added significance.

Why? It’s a function of a low-return environment, and the psychological roller coaster that is likely to unfold.

Let’s start with the low-return environment. There is good reason to believe that returns from both equities and fixed income will be lower in the coming years.

Equities rebounded quickly from the initial pandemic-induced sell-off. Lofty stock valuations do not reflect the economic reality of the highest unemployment level since the Great Depression. High unemployment levels likely mean a slow economic rebound, and lower returns from equity markets as earnings slowly recover. Investors can probably count on low returns from fixed income as well, which historically have been highly correlated to yields. Today’s historically low yields suggest that future fixed income returns may not be as compelling as they have been in the past for investors.

If low returns persist, clients should perceive an advisor’s ability to source incremental alpha as a greater value add than they would in a higher return environment.

Consider the math: If a passive, traditional stock and bond portfolio returns 15%, for example, and an advisor’s allocation decisions lead to a 16% return for the client, that 1% of extra return only adds 6.5% of total return (1%/15%).

But in an environment where market returns are only 5%, for example, an extra 1% of extra return makes up 20% of the total return. Suddenly, that alpha means a great deal.

Checked Emotions Will Matter More

Keeping investors’ emotional and behavioral impulses in check also has been a critical advisor role. This too could take on added importance. Admittedly, no one can accurately predict when volatility will ramp up. It’s the surprise element in markets that usually sparks it.

But there are plenty of events in the next few months that set the stage for potentially higher volatility including economic uncertainty, fears about an ongoing pandemic, geopolitical tensions and an upcoming U.S. election.