Steve Forbes Urges Advisors To Get Ahead Of Iran Tension, Geopolitical News Cycle Hot
Steve Forbes reportedly urged advisors not to panic in the event of an Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.
In itself, it's a somewhat odd piece of advice. After all, advisors have kept their cool through world-shaking events in the last nine months, much less the last few years and the last decade.
Did anyone tell advisors "don't panic" when the U.S. credit rating was cut and global markets sold off? No.
Likewise, when Lehman Brothers collapsed, the markets melted down, but there were no reports of advisors melting down with them.
Forbes' advice is best applied to your clients. They probably won't panic either, especially if they know you're on top of the news flow and can steer their finances through whatever the world can dish out.
But they're more likely to get caught up in the headlines than you are.
So be ready to reach out and make sure everyone's all right. Know what a global oil shock could do to the economy and your clients' portfolios. Anticipate questions.
Forbes thinks the situation might reach the point of no return in a few months. Let's hope he's wrong, but it's better to be prepared than otherwise -- if you remember how clients reacted in August, you know that now.