Client risk-appetite returning: AUI

Following a period of hesitance, investors are becoming increasingly interested in equity and property markets, according to Damen Purcell, head of retail distribution at Australian Unity Investments.

“The fact clients are now more willing to take on risk and look at growth assets means advisers can show they add value by making recommendations about suitable asset classes that not so long ago would have fallen on deaf ears,” Purcell said.

“It’s understandable advisers might be nervous about arguing with clients but they need to help clients understand they can’t sit on the sidelines forever, and that they are already missing out on significant gains in the market,” he added.

Advisers should also be reducing the time-lag between the market moving into a ‘bull’ phase and investors getting back into equities by developing and explaining strategies, according to Purcell.

“Advisers need to show the ability to develop portfolio construction strategies, and not just be ‘order executors’ who follow their clients’ directions, which has tended to be the case since the GFC for those clients who have insisted on sitting on cash,” he said.

This follows Lifeplan’s suggestion that features of the current environment, such as proposed changes to the superannuation system, create an opportunity for advisers to develop alternative investment strategies for their clients.