Work From Home Financial Advisor Survey
ETF Trends and Direxion conducted a survey in October 2020 to see how the accelerated work from home environment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the way financial advisors and the ETF industry conducts business. The results reveal some compelling findings.
Key Survey Findings
- Employees would generally like to work from home at least one day a week after Covid-19 is no longer a concern.
- Client relationships are just as good now working from home as before.
- Communication between colleges, management and company leadership is Good or Excellent.
- Advisors are leveraging new technology and are even more tech savvy than before.
- Productivity is the same or even improved working from home.
- Advisors rely heavily on trusted ETF websites, but have increased their reliance on digital research including issuer webcasts and virtual events.
Survey Overview
The U.S. economy underwent the most radical transformation since the great depression over the course of a few short weeks in March. Almost overnight, entire industries were transformed from in-office, in-person affairs to remote-only. Wealth management was uniquely positioned in this transformation. On the one hand, many of the core activities of running a financial advisory practice are location agnostic – reporting, research, accounting, portfolio management. Yet the most critical part – actually working with clients – is inherently a person to person activity.
To better understand the long-term impacts of this secular shift on the advisor market, ETF Trends partnered with Direxion to conduct an extensive survey of the advisor market. The survey was in the field from September 25th through October 28th of 2020 and explored multiple aspects of working remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the 2,169 respondents, the majority describe themselves as either asset gatherers or portfolio managers, with 55% saying that their client portfolios are 1-40% ETFs, with another 35% reporting using ETFs for more than 40% of their client assets. The survey covered a broad range of advisory practices, from senior managers, portfolio managers to self-described asset-gatherers, from firms ranging from sub-$100mm under management to over $25 billion in AUM. Some 30% of the sample work at firms with over 100 employees.
Invest in the digital revolution. The Direxion Work From Home ETF allows investors to gain exposure to companies that stand to benefit from an increasingly flexible work environment.