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are co-ordinating 2 additional mini-breakout research rooms where researchers will present additional peer-reviewed, unpublished research selected from the many submissions we received.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.
.Expensive babysitters or trusted professionals? Financial advice and portfolio rebalancing in retirement savings
Short Description
The value of financial advice to clients has been debated in both the literature and public discourse. High profile advice and product failures, together with various studies have also demonstrated negative impacts of financial advice on client wealth. This study examines the impact of financial advice in a modern regulatory environment where financial advisors possess a strong fiduciary duty, adhere to strict disclosure obligations, and where conflicted remuneration has been regulated largely out of existence. Utilizing a sample of over 55,000 retirement portfolio rebalances, we empirically examine (i) who seeks financial advice prior to rebalancing, and (ii) whether financial advice affects retirement portfolio outcomes. Our results suggest that financial advice in this setting is related to lower risk and less concentrated rebalances with higher risk-adjusted returns compared to self-directed rebalances. Financial advice is typically used by wealthier, older, and female investors. We find no evidence that financial advisors recommend higher fee funds.