About The College Practice Management Research
Insights for Advising Through Market Uncertainty
The Advising Through Uncertainty Study indicates that advisors who focus on financial planning are often better equipped to navigate market uncertainty than those who focus on investment management — yet only 40% of respondents claim financial planning as their primary focus. This illustrates a gap between the services and expertise clients need in uncertain times, and the services advisors are prioritizing.
When markets become volatile, clients need an all-weather financial planner. During market storms, 43% of investment-focused advisors receive portfolio change requests from clients, while only 23% of planning-focused advisors do.1 By acknowledging the anxiety clients may feel and redirecting their focus to overall, long-term financial planning, the all-weather financial planner can better ease client worries.
With the help of specialized knowledge, financial professionals can advise with more competence and clarity.
Key Findings
The consensus of the study is clear: client behaviors evolve in times of market uncertainty. Most advisors say that client inquiries have increased and the topics of their conversations with clients have seen changes. In fact, a majority of advisors (53%) say client focus has shifted during market uncertainty.1
A starker difference, however, is seen between the client behaviors of advisors focusing on financial planning and advisors with specialized designations, and clients of advisors focusing on investment and advisors without designations. 43% of investment management-focused advisors report more frequent portfolio changes during market turbulence.1 Similarly, 81% of non-designees say their clients are more anxious amid market uncertainty.1
As market storms loom, it’s financial planners and designees who are most prepared to weather uncertain conditions.
The Value of Financial Advice
So, what do these findings mean for advisors looking to confidently navigate uncertain markets? The Advising Through Uncertainty Study offers numerous key takeaways.
Be the Calm Amid the Storm
When the forecast turns severe, it’s a time to prepare, not panic. Similarly, financial planners are significantly less likely to be anxious than clients during market swings. Expert advisors can ease client worries with the help of advanced knowledge, offering perspective, reassurance, and a steady hand through uncertainty.
Stand Out With Specialized Advice
Clients of College designees are significantly less likely to shift their focus to investments, request portfolio changes, or feel more anxious. This shows that clients can better endure volatility — even in downturns — when their advisors display additional expertise.
By communicating the importance of specialized and thorough financial planning in uncertain times, advisors can stand out among their investment-focused peers.
Put Market Volatility into Context
Every storm runs out of rain, and those who stay in the market will recover faster than those who change course. With historical context, advisors can help clients see that short-term performance in uncertain times doesn’t define their value or the long-term impact of their advice.
More From The College
- Read more research from The College, the Advisory Services Survey
- Learn more about specialized education with our Designation Outcomes
- See more takeaways from our Retirement Income Literacy Study
- Gain more insights for uncertainty from our thought leaders with Retirement Planning Strategies for a Changing Economic Landscape and Navigating Retirement Income Planning in Volatile Markets
- Listen in as industry experts discuss this year’s tariff situation on our Shares podcast, The Truth About Tariff Impacts
About The College Press
Driving Better Outcomes for Business Owners with RISR
KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. — June 24, 2025 - RISR, a leading business owner engagement platform for financial professionals, today announced a strategic partnership with The American College of Financial Services (“The College”), the nation’s largest nonprofit educational institution devoted to financial services. This collaboration will enhance how financial advisors serve business owner clients by combining specialized education with powerful technology.
The College’s mission is to provide applied financial knowledge and education, promote lifelong learning and advocate for ethical standards to benefit society. It’s a mission rooted in history and focused on the profession’s future. This partnership with RISR brings that mission to life by pairing expert instruction with actionable tools to meet the complex needs of today’s business owner clients. As part of the collaboration, financial advisors who complete The College’s Business Succession Planning Certificate Program will receive complimentary access to a business insights report from RISR — a robust, data-rich overview that helps advisors uncover valuation, risk and growth opportunities for business owner clients. This benefit is designed to immediately translate the certificate’s learnings into real-world client impact.
“Advisors working with business owners are in a unique position to influence outcomes that directly impact retirement, legacy and generational wealth,” said Jason Early, founder and chief executive officer of RISR. “This partnership with The American College of Financial Services puts the right resources in their hands — specialized education and technology-enabled insights — so they can step confidently into their role as planning leaders during critical transition moments.”
Over 70 percent of privately held businesses are expected to change hands in the next decade, yet most business owners are unprepared to exit successfully. This knowledge gap presents a major opportunity—and responsibility—for advisors to step in and guide their clients through these life-changing transitions.
“Knowledge without action leaves potential on the table,” said Jared Trexler, senior vice president, chief marketing and strategy officer at The College. “This partnership bridges education and execution, arming advisors with the requisite tools to meet rising market demand for business planning and succession guidance.”
This initiative reflects both organizations’ commitment to elevating advisor impact and improving outcomes for business owners, who are key contributors to the U.S. economy. By making high-quality resources more accessible, the partnership aims to drive better decision-making, smoother transitions and more secure financial futures.
Financial professionals interested in comprehensive planning engagement tools for business owner clients can book a demo with RISR. Professionals can also learn more about The College’s Business Succession Planning Certificate Program.
For more information, contact:
StreetCred PR
RISR@streetcredpr.com
Audrey Love
865-253-6082
Audrey@streetcredpr.com
Jimmy Moock
610-304-4570
Jimmy@streetcredpr.com
Jared Trexler
610-526-1268
jared.trexler@theamericancollege.edu
Sarah Tremallo
908-967-0381
Stremallo@jconnelly.com
About RISR
Founded in 2024 and backed by financial industry veterans, RISR is a first-of-its-kind engagement platform designed to empower advisors and the business owners they serve. By providing deep insights into valuation, growth opportunities, risk assessment, and more, RISR helps advisors deliver more impactful advice. Its platform supports succession and exit planning, estate and legacy planning, retirement planning, insurance coverage, tax planning, and capital and liquidity planning. RISR is committed to unlocking growth for advisors and ensuring the success of small business owners who form the backbone of the U.S. economy. For more information, please follow RISR on LinkedIn or visit risr.com.
About The American College of Financial Services
Founded in 1927, The American College of Financial Services is the nation’s largest nonprofit educational institution devoted to financial services professionals. Holding the highest level of academic accreditation, The College has educated over 200,000 professionals across the United States through certificate, designation, and graduate degree programs. Its portfolio of applied knowledge also includes just-in-time learning and consumer financial education programs. The College’s faculty represents some of the foremost thought leaders in the financial services industry.
Representation From The President Insights
From Recognition to Realization
When Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021, it marked a long-overdue recognition of a critical chapter in American history. For many of us in leadership, that moment also came with an ongoing responsibility: to move from symbolic acknowledgment to sustained, measurable action.
Now, four years later, we ask not just what we’ve celebrated, but what we’ve changed.
At The American College of Financial Services, we have worked with purpose to advance financial freedom for many years, including through our Four Steps Forward initiative that began in 2020 and focused on: empowering Black women through financial research and education, recruiting and training Black financial services professionals, developing executive leadership programs for Black professionals in financial services, and building collective impact for Black communities through financial education. We began with a focus on Black women, professionals, and communities, and today, these programs have expanded to reach broader populations.
For us, Juneteenth is not only about reflecting on the past and the end of slavery in America; this is an opportunity to honor our country’s history by building a stronger, more inclusive financial future for all.
Since Juneteenth was first recognized in 2021, we’ve taken real steps forward:
- In 2021, the American College Center for Economic Empowerment and Equality (CEEE) produced research called Black Women, Trust, and the Financial Services Industry, which delivered meaningful insights to help financial professionals build better relationships with and better serve this important group. In 2022, WealthManagement.com awarded the research a prestigious Wealthies award.
- In 2022, CEEE introduced the Executive Leadership Program, an innovative development opportunity for Black and DEI-committed professionals. Its success has led us to expand the program’s reach to include more leaders from diverse backgrounds.
- That same year, we rolled out Know Yourself, Grow Your Wealth®, a consumer education program distributed through more than 35 historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). It’s now reaching broader audiences across communities. As of the 2024 annual impact report, 15% of participants say they improved their financial knowledge as a result of completing the program, 46% adjusted their credit card use, and 68% increased their savings or began saving for the first time.
- Our Conference for African American Financial Professionals, now in its 19th year, attracted record attendance, most recently drawing nearly 1,000 financial professionals, more than 50 HBCU and affiliate scholars, and 20 corporate sponsors to the 2024 event.
These initiatives are more than checkboxes. They are expressions of our belief that economic empowerment is the next chapter in the story Juneteenth asks us to tell. It’s a story in which opportunity is not merely promised, but delivered.
The College has used its platform to advocate for positive change within our profession and society at large. Today we’ve made representation one of our top three strategic priorities, underscoring our commitment to advancing education, access, and opportunity across the financial services profession.
In the past year alone, I’ve had the privilege of sharing my perspectives on representation and inclusion at industry gatherings such as Future Proof, Tiburon, and the Financial Services Institute, as well as in podcasts and publications. And while those are just some examples of my activities in the past year, they are not isolated or individual. Rather, our work represents a sustained commitment by our executive leadership team, board of trustees, and many strategic philanthropic partners.
Juneteenth is a reminder of resilience and responsibility. In pursuit of The College’s mission to provide applied financial knowledge and education, promote lifelong learning and advocate for ethical standards to benefit society, we have a responsibility to continue opening doors, challenging assumptions, and equipping more people to thrive. We remain dedicated to that work through research, education, and action.
This year’s Conference for African American Financial Professionals in August will center on the theme Pathways to Prosperity. On this Juneteenth, please join me in reflecting on how we can continue forging new pathways from the freedom brought by emancipation to the freedom that comes with financial prosperity.
More From The College
Get to know the Center for Economic Empowerment and Equality
Learn about the Conference for African American Financial Professionals (CAAFP)
Tax Planning Podcasts
Tax Policy Proposals and Impacts
In this episode of the Shares podcast, Eric Ludwig, PhD, CFP®, Retirement Income Certified Professional® (RICP®) Program director at The American College of Financial Services, speaks with Tax Planning Certified Professional® (TPCP®) Program director Sophia Duffy, JD, CPA, AEP® about the possible tax policy changes contained in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” currently making its way through Congress. In addition to making many of the changes put in place in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) permanent, they discuss some exciting possibilities for tax-informed financial planning, including new exemptions and deductions for business owners (such as financial advisors!), expanded uses for 529 and HSA accounts, cap changes for state and local taxes, and more.
Sophia Duffy, JD, CPA, AEP® is an associate professor of business planning and program director for the Tax Planning Certified Professional® (TPCP®) Program at The American College of Financial Services. She teaches classes in estate planning, small business planning, and taxation at the graduate and undergraduate levels.
Duffy has published research on a variety of issues related to financial planning, including discrimination in AI-based insurance underwriting, the vulnerability of aging investors, and award-winning research on Social Security planning for high-income-earning women.
Duffy earned a Juris Doctorate (JD) from the Temple University James E. Beasley School of Law and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Rutgers University. She is also a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and an Accredited Estate Planner® (AEP®).
Any views or opinions expressed in this podcast are the hosts’ and guests' own and do not necessarily represent those of The American College of Financial Services.
More From The College
See how you can incorporate tax-informed planning into your practice with the Tax Planning Certified Professional® (TPCP®) designation
Get more insights on tax-informed financial planning
Retirement Planning Insights
Retirement Planning Strategies for a Changing Landscape
In times of uncertainty, it’s vital that advisors can deliver versatile retirement planning strategies to meet the ever-evolving needs of their clients.
According to our 2023 Retirement Income Literacy Survey, individuals who work with advisors often have higher retirement literacy and experience better outcomes than those who don’t. However, the average literacy score was just 31%, revealing a widespread lack of understanding of key retirement topics. This underscores the critical need for expert guidance — especially among those in or nearing retirement.
With today’s uncertain markets and increasing life expectancy unearthing fears of outliving savings or becoming a burden on loved ones, the demand for professional retirement planning is at an all-time high. To help ensure retirement income security for clients in unpredictable times, advisors need retirement planning strategies that are both sound and flexible.
Ensuring Stability Through Smart Adjustments
Market uncertainty can upend traditional retirement longevity planning approaches, demanding quick thinking and flexibility from an industry built on long-term stability. Yet even small shifts in strategy can make all the difference.
In a recent discussion, Retirement Income Certified Professional® (RICP®) Program Director Eric Ludwig, PhD, CFP® and CEO of Bryn Mawr Capital Management Jamie Hopkins, Esq., LLM, CFP®, ChFC®, CLU®, RICP® identified two key strategies for stability in retirement planning.
The first tactic Ludwig and Hopkins discussed was diversifying your clients’ income streams through a “bucketing” approach. Rather than treating assets as a single, unified pool of money, you can categorize them into separate “buckets” based on when they might need the funds. By aligning their assets with time-specific goals, like short-term investments, savings, and growth, you can prevent panic and instead provide peace of mind.
Another powerful strategy they offered was implementing spending guardrails based on market conditions. Rather than sticking to a fixed annual spending amount, you can help clients adjust their spending based on predefined thresholds. If the market performs well and their portfolio grows beyond a certain point, they can increase their spending into an “upper guardrail.” If their investments drop past the “lower guardrail,” then they can reduce their spending accordingly. By focusing on the probability of portfolio adjustment rather than success or failure, this dynamic approach helps preserve retirement income security and longevity without sacrificing lifestyle.
These adaptive approaches ensure your clients’ investments match their time horizon and keep their spending in check, creating a flexible, resilient retirement plan that can weather market volatility.
Getting Ahead of Long-Term Care Costs
As people live longer and healthcare costs climb, the likelihood of needing some form of long-term care grows, making it a crucial element of retirement longevity planning. In a workshop session at Horizons 2025, Director of College Research Kaylee Ranck, PhD, and Managing Director of the American College Center for Special Needs Joellen Meckley, JD, MHS, ChSNC® delved into this topic.
Ranck and Meckley revealed that projections show 70% of people aged 65 or older will at some point require long-term care, and the costs can be substantial and unpredictable.1 Without a plan in place, long-term care costs can drain retirement funds quickly, threatening financial independence and potentially placing an emotional burden on family or caregivers. This possibility causes anxiety among the majority of individuals in or nearing retirement, with 77% saying becoming a burden is their main longevity concern.2
Couple rising longevity with current market uncertainty, and it becomes more and more apparent that proactive planning — rather than waiting for a caregiving-related crisis to hit — is not just a wise decision, but an imperative one. By helping clients plan ahead through long-term care insurance, hybrid life insurance policies, or even Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), you can protect their portfolios from large, sudden losses during market downturns.
Having a long-term care plan in place ensures your clients have greater choice and control over their futures — and in uncertain times, that stability makes all the difference.
Utilizing Historical Context and Behavioral Finance
One of the most effective tools in an advisor’s toolkit is historical context, said Professor of Practice Steve Parrish, JD, RICP®, CLU®, ChFC®, AEP® in a recent Shares episode. Market downturns, while undeniably uncomfortable, are not new. These downturns often trigger strong emotional responses — fear, anxiety, and the impulse to act quickly. Reminding clients of the market’s long history of recovery after major crashes can help combat reactionary decisions that might derail long-term goals.
However, historical perspective alone isn’t enough. According to Hopkins, the quality of client service is critical, especially in uncertain times. Understanding your client’s personal financial journey — their past experiences with economic downturns, job loss, or caregiving responsibilities — adds a layer of behavioral finance insight that purely technical strategies can’t.
Ultimately, the financial services industry is just that: service. During uncertain times, making clients feel heard and understood is more than just a best practice, it’s a fundamental part of building retirement plans that endure.
More on Retirement Income Planning
- See more takeaways from our Retirement Income Literacy Study
- Give your clients the gift of knowledge with a free education program, The Retirement Course™
- Become a retirement expert with our Retirement Income Certified Professional® (RICP®) Program
Learn more about the RICP® program
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