One City Built to Last

y felix badea
Keeping Clients Poised
on the Rollercoaster
In the past three to
four years, the stock
market has provided
investors with advantageous,
wealth-building
returns. It’s a welcome
relief from the
Great Recession, as the crash and volatility
from 2007 to 2009 is being deemed
by historians. This Stanley Funches
knows well. But he also knows that
today’s conditions won’t last, and he
wants his clients to be ready for another
ride on the rollercoaster.
“We’ve had several years with great
market returns, but this is not going
to be a constant thing,” Funches said.
“We are going to go through a bear
market pretty soon. So my goal for
beyond 2014 and into 2015 is to make
sure my clients and their portfolios
are positioned to take advantage of
good solid returns and are prepared
to withstand any market downturns.”
“That means securing appropriate
amounts of liquid assets, such as cash,
as well as balancing portfolio holdings
across a wide range of asset classes,”
he said. It also includes mentally and
emotionally preparing clients to
hold tight and take a long term view of
temporary losses.
As a partner and chief compliance
officer for Bridgeworth, LLC, based in
Birmingham, Ala., Funches knows the
ups and downs of long-term financial
planning. He encourages his clients
to ride the highs and take advantage
of unique opportunities presented by
some of the market lows.
“Investors with a long-term outlook
are able to take advantage of good
buying opportunities when the market
goes down, because they also have
cash reserves allowing them to make
investments that have the potential
to pay off when the market recovers,”
Funches said.
Making this happen requires discipline
– not only from the investor, but
also from the advisor.
“You (as the advisor) have to remain
emotionally confident enough to help
your client – to lead your client to stick
through the low times,” he said. “That
isn’t easy. It is the difficult part. But
once you
do it,
THE SUIT MAGAZINE - NOV 2014