A managing partner at Kelley & Mullis Wealth Management in Birmingham, Alabama, Michael Mullis has advised clients for 20 years. In 2015 and 2016, Michael Mullis was named one of Barron’s Top 1200 Financial Advisors.
Those on the Top 1200 Financial Advisors list range from independent brokers to advisors in Wall Street’s largest firms. Criteria for inclusion include revenues taken in, the value of managed assets, and the quality of their services.
In March 2019 advisors in the Top 1200 shared with Barron’s some of their unique perspectives on the market. These include the following insights:
- Access to information can be a detriment. Because factors affecting prices are so easily available via the Internet, many investors make hasty decisions based on the latest news. Advisors are having to warn clients against making impulsive changes that undermine their long-term strategy.
- Worries about volatility are increasing. Even though stocks are doing well, price swings are on the rise; the plentiful availability of cash and generous stimulus packages no longer moderate them. In many cases, investors have been surprised by renewed price swings.
- Retirement can be a source of investors’ anxiety. Adding to clients’ stress is transitioning to retirement, a time when many can no longer afford to compensate for losses by draining their savings. Advisors are now moving retirees to dividend-based funds that provide a cushion during downturns.
- Investors are seeing a renewed reliance on proven stocks. So-called quality stocks are now back in demand. This is because their assets are well balanced with their debt load, their profits outlast up-and-down trends, and their dividends do not fall.
Those on the Top 1200 Financial Advisors list range from independent brokers to advisors in Wall Street’s largest firms. Criteria for inclusion include revenues taken in, the value of managed assets, and the quality of their services.
In March 2019 advisors in the Top 1200 shared with Barron’s some of their unique perspectives on the market. These include the following insights:
- Access to information can be a detriment. Because factors affecting prices are so easily available via the Internet, many investors make hasty decisions based on the latest news. Advisors are having to warn clients against making impulsive changes that undermine their long-term strategy.
- Worries about volatility are increasing. Even though stocks are doing well, price swings are on the rise; the plentiful availability of cash and generous stimulus packages no longer moderate them. In many cases, investors have been surprised by renewed price swings.
- Retirement can be a source of investors’ anxiety. Adding to clients’ stress is transitioning to retirement, a time when many can no longer afford to compensate for losses by draining their savings. Advisors are now moving retirees to dividend-based funds that provide a cushion during downturns.
- Investors are seeing a renewed reliance on proven stocks. So-called quality stocks are now back in demand. This is because their assets are well balanced with their debt load, their profits outlast up-and-down trends, and their dividends do not fall.
