Mass Affluent Prefer Having Advisor Play Offense With Investments

By Cyril Tuohy

InsuranceNewsNet

A new poll conducted by MetLife has found that 52 percent of mass affluent Americans, those with between $100,000 and $1 million in investable assets, use a financial advisor, broker or investment advisor.

The poll also found that of the respondents using a financial advisor, 50.4 percent are very confident the advisor has developed a plan that protects assets, 47.3 percent are somewhat confident and only 2.3 percent are not very confident.

The MetLife Financial Planning Perspectives Poll, which surveyed 250 adults, found that many Americans in the mass affluent segment would rather play financial offense than defense. They prefer an approach anchored in growing assets instead of one built to secure minimizing losses.

“This poll confirms that helping people develop more diversified strategies — ones aimed at also protecting their wealth — requires an ongoing educational effort,” Paul LaPiana, executive vice president of MetLife Premier Client Group, said in a news release.

More than half of the respondents said their financial plans included each of the following financial products: mutual funds (51 percent), stocks (51 percent), a savings account (75 percent), a retirement account (76 percent) and a checking account (77 percent).

Less than 50 percent of respondents said their plans included each of the following financial products: annuities (31 percent), term life insurance (31 percent), permanent life insurance (28 percent), estate planning (18 percent) and disability insurance (17 percent).

Forty-five percent of the respondents said growing assets was equally as important as protecting them, while 36 percent said growing assets with products like mutual funds was more important, and 19 percent said protecting assets with insurance was more important.

The survey was conducted for MetLife by Penn Schoen Berland between Oct. 7 and Oct. 10.

Cyril Tuohy is a writer based in Pennsylvania. He has covered the financial services industry for more than 15 years. Cyril may be reached at cyril.tuohy@innfeedback.com.

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Cyril Tuohy is a writer based in Pennsylvania. He has covered the financial services industry for more than 15 years. He can be reached at cyril.tuohy@innfeedback.com.