The Academy of Financial Services (AFS) is excited to be collaborating with FPA to provide an "integrated conference experience" for AFS members this year. The AFS research conference will run for the full 2.5 days of the FPA Conference as part of a dedicated research track bringing the best of AFS and the Journal of Financial Planning (JFP) to you.
- A dedicated Research Room for presentations designed to bring the most relevant research impacting professional financial planners. This includes research sessions sponsored by the JFP and peer-reviewed research papers presented by AFS members. These sessions are CE credit approved.
- The winner of the JFP's Montgomery-Warschauer Award for best research from the prior year will present their research.
- In the Research Room AFS will coordinate other research content such as a panel discussion with the editors of the 4 major FP research journals explaining to planners and academics the type of research content to be found, how to best consume/digest research and apply it to a FP practice and more.
- A new FP Research Shark Tank. Based on the format of the popular TV series a select number of researchers will do 5 minute "pitches" on research that they believe would be significantly impactful for practitioners. Planners and researchers will then vote on the most exciting research proposal.
- AFS are co-ordinating 2 additional mini-breakout research rooms where researchers will present additional peer-reviewed, unpublished research selected from the many submissions we received. A timetable of these sessions can be found below.
- AFS will manage the research rooms for fully-hybrid attendance with face-to-face or virtual attendance. Although the content will be exceptional, we hope to see many of you in person as the networking, exhibit hall, FPA keynote speakers and other sessions outside of the research cannot be experienced any other way.
Understanding the Financial Information Maze: The Role of Financial Advisors in Shaping Household Risk Tolerance
Short Description
The responsibility of investment decisions has substantially shifted towards the American employee over the recent decades. It becomes critical for Americans to understand the level of risks associated with their investments. This study tests whether financial planners impact the risk tolerance and consistency of their clients. Those who utilize the advice of financial professionals are compared against others who rely on other sources of information to make financial decisions. Additionally, the research tests the moderating effect of age on risk tolerance and financial literacy on risk consistency. Results show that working with a planner is associated with higher risk tolerance levels and consistency between risk and asset selection.
Further, there is some evidence of a significant moderating effect for age in the risk tolerance model and financial literacy in the risk consistency model. These findings help support the value of using a financial planner compared to other sources for financial information. The implications of this study can be impactful for both the academic and practitioner branches of financial planning. Practitioners can point to the results of this study as support for the value they bring to clients. Academic researchers could extend this research by considering other factors that may moderate the relationship between financial planners and risk preferences. This would help the profession better understand the risk tolerance attribute and appropriately account for it in the financial decision-making process.