Helping Clients Avoid ‘Knee-Jerk’ Decisions

Stephen Davis has been in wealth management since 1994. He received his certified investment management analyst designation from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. His experience in financial planning, asset allocation and portfolio construction qualify him to translate macroeconomic data and financial market events into actionable ideas for portfolios. Outside the workplace, Davis, who lives in Westlake Village with his wife and three children, currently serves on the board for the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Conejo Valley.Question: What do clients want now that maybe they didn’t want a few years ago? With all the advancements in technology and useful phone apps like our UBS mobile app, clients now experience 24/7 access to research, data and timely news that may affect their financial wellbeing. Moreover, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, people have spent more time at home, and with less outside distractions, they have the ability to review their financial investments more readily and frequently.What do clients most frequently need to be counseled about?I provide a lot of value to my clients; I am able to provide them with a calm, logical and educated response when they call me in a panic if the stock market is having a volatile day. I help clients realize that they are in a stronger position to meet their long-term financial goals when they resist the urge to act in a reactionary manner to media and politics. They need to be reminded to stay the course and not to let emotions about a “down day” or breaking news on a “great stock” affect their long-term financial goals by making knee-jerk investment reactions.

What do you think your industry will look like 10 years from now? Presently, the Davis Group prides itself on the wide range of personalized services offered to our clients in order to meet their challenging and diverse investment goals. Ten years from now, there will be a smaller offering of services, solutions and providers available to individuals. The industry is moving into low-cost, non-personalized, non-customized financial solutions for the masses. However, I always anticipate the need for high-net-worth clients to seek the personalized, detailed and service-based financial advising that the Davis Group has always provided to its clients.  – Mark R. Madler