Security Benefit announced Wednesday that it has expanded the scope of its quarterly RIA survey, which it has been conducting for two years, to include a broader range of financial professionals within the advice industry.
Security Benefit's first-quarter 2026 survey was conducted in February by Greenwald Research among 50 pure RIAs, 50 hybrid RIAs and 100 non-RIA financial professionals from across the United States. That mix, it said, allows for comparisons across channels while maintaining continuity with prior RIA-focused research.
"We found that advisors share a lot of common views but may differ in various practices while working with clients on their retirement plans," said Justin Jacquinot, head of IMO and RIA sales at Security Benefit.
The survey found that some 40% of financial professionals believe that 30% or more of their clients spend less than they prudently can in retirement. This finding was consistent across advisor types.
Advisors expressed consistent reactions to whether their clients were underconfident in their ability to maintain their lifestyle throughout their retirement — an opportunity, Security Benefit said, for financial professionals to support clients and help them build confidence in their retirement plan.
Top Challenges
Twenty-six percent of respondents overall said incorporating long-term care and health care costs into their client retirement planning is their most difficult task, although less so for RIAs, at 23%, than for non-RIAs, at 29%.
Advisors also reported that client concerns are highest around health care and long-term care costs. Many advisors likely see this as an opportunity to offer help where it is needed most: Half of both RIAs and non-RIAs said they are discussing health care costs more prominently than they did six months ago.
However, only 29% of RIAs said they are discussing long-term care costs more often, compared with 46% of non-RIAs.
RIAs Favor Formal Written Plans
The study also showed differences in advisors' formal planning approach. Forty-two percent of all respondents reported that they prepare a written retirement plan for at least three-quarters of their clients entering retirement.
More than half of RIAs prepare written plans, but only 34% of non-RIAs do so.
As income in retirement is a major client concern, about half of financial professionals in the survey said they most often use the bucket strategy, whereby a client's assets are divided into time-based segments to address income needs.
The next most common approach, employed by 30% of advisors, is a total return strategy, which seeks the highest return from one pool of money and uses that to meet expenses.
Geopolitical Risk and Volatility
Geopolitical instability, rather than inflation or recession, emerged as the primary concern for client portfolios in 2026. Security Benefit said this view was showing up before the Iran war and in surveys conducted during 2025.
It has become a defining factor in how advisors position portfolios. They are taking a more balanced, risk-aware approach for both themselves and their clients, the survey found.
Forty percent of advisors overall said they expect to increase allocations to international equities, indicating a greater emphasis on diversification as global dynamics evolve.
Managing downside risk is a central priority as well. Seven in 10 respondents consider downside protection a key component of portfolio construction. Eighty-three percent said they are actively using diversification strategies to help mitigate potential losses.
Enhanced Outlook Index
Security Benefit's Financial Professional Outlook Index, which measures advisor sentiment on economic growth, inflation and market volatility and now includes the wider advisor population, came in at 59 (on a 100-point scale) for the first quarter, reflecting modestly strong sentiment across the financial professional landscape.
"Advisors and their clients are finding ways to stay prepared as global conflicts and economic pressures remain high," Jacquinot said.
"Rather than pulling back from markets, advisors are building greater resilience into portfolios through diversification and downside protection while offering guidance on meeting future needs."
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