Market volatility, regulatory reforms and political and macroeconomic shifts were top-of-mind for financial advisers across the first half of 2016, according to the latest Fidelity Advisor Investment Pulse study.
These factors generated nervousness among advisers and investors, who in turn directed their attention toward portfolio management to help their clients navigate the uncertainty, the results of the quarterly survey from Fidelity Institutional Asset Management show.
Across the first half of the year, portfolio management was the number one theme with more than 26 per cent of advisers surveyed citing it as an area of focus. This was closely followed by market volatility (nearly 26 percent) and developments in the regulatory and political landscape (18 per cent). In Q2 the results were similar, with 27 per cent of respondents focused on portfolio management, 23 per cent concerned about market volatility, and 21 per cent keeping an eye on regulatory and political developments.
“Without question, volatility was a big concern for both advisors and investors in the first six months of the year,” says Scott E Couto, president, Fidelity Institutional Asset Management. “Regulatory changes like the introduction of the Department of Labor’s investment advice rule1 and political developments such as Brexit and the US election campaign added to a degree of uncertainty to global markets.
“Advisers have been in a constant state of flux, but they can help make sense of the range of short- and medium-term factors in play by looking at client portfolios through multiple time horizons.”
