by bobby l. hickman
MILLENNIAL
TALK
ADVISORS TARGETING MILLENNIAL INVESTORS
Firms recruit young advisors to better serve next generation of clients
F
inancial advisory firms are increasingly recruiting younger advisors to help members of the millennial generation invest for the future. Millennials already make up more than 35 percent of the U.S. workforce according to the Pew Research Center, and are expected to inherit more than $30 trillion over the next few decades. However, only 25 percent of financial advisors are below the age of 40 – and only 10 percent are less than 30, Pew noted. Meanwhile, Cerulli Associates reports that 66 percent of children who receive an inheritance do not stay with their parents’ advisors. Add in millennials’ preferences to deal with people from their own generation, plus the expected retirement of 37 percent of today’s advisors within the next decade, and it’s no surprise that more firms are actively recruiting younger financial advisors. “It is certainly necessary to expand 32 / ADVISORS MAGAZINE
MAY 2021
into the younger generation,” said Jeffrey Lesniewicz, senior partner at The LAT Group – and a financial advisor with Raymond James Financial Services – in Downers Grove, Illinois. “We’re bringing in younger people, training them, and making them part of our team so we will be prepared as the millennial opportunities open up.” The growth in automated trading platforms such as Robinhood reflects young people’s growing interest in investment opportunities. While some advisors seem threatened by these technology-driven trends, Lesniewicz said, he feels the platforms add new liquidity and volatility to markets while providing opportunities to more people to participate. “It brings a more educated investor to the marketplace across the board,” he said. “It’s only going to create more valued and educated people in the market.”
At some point, Lesniewicz said, some of today’s independent young traders will be looking for advisors who can help them build on their gains from individual investment activities, such as those produced in the recent GameStop stock price surges. “What happens one day when they say, ‘I don't want to do this myself anymore’ and they begin to seek out long-term advice? They're going to come find someone like us,” he said. Once the pandemic ends and people are no longer stuck at home, many of these investors may no longer continually monitor the markets through apps and devices, Lesniewicz added. New and different trading strategies are likely to emerge once these new traders are no longer watching their screens all day. “I'm not saying I encourage my clients to get on our mobile app and start trading all the time,” he added.
