Advisors push diversification and calm as clients worry about jobs and rising prices
Trade policy has stopped being a headline for clients and started being a question they bring to their advisor.
New Fidelity Investments Canada ULC (Fidelity) found that 47 percent of financial advisors say clients worry about trade policy and tariffs.
The concerns reach household finances, investments, and job security as the Canada-US-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) review approaches.
The poll found rising costs from tariffs or supply chain disruptions top the list of client worries at 63 percent, followed by market volatility tied to trade and geopolitical developments at 43 percent and job security and income stability at 24 percent.
Trade uncertainty has shifted from negotiations and headlines into everyday financial conversations, said Chris Pepper, vice-president of corporate affairs at Fidelity.
Canadians want to know how tariffs, rising costs, and economic uncertainty could hit their jobs, investments and long-term plans, he said.
In that climate, advisors help clients stay focused on what they can control and "avoid making emotional decisions based on short-term developments," he said.
Advisors are responding by anchoring clients to the long term.
Seventy percent said they help clients separate short-term headlines from long-term fundamentals, and 60 percent are reinforcing diversification across sectors and regions.
Another 40 percent are reviewing retirement and income plans, 18 percent are stress-testing portfolios against different trade scenarios, and 12 percent are increasing their focus on liquidity and emergency savings.
The concern is not spread evenly.
Advisors reported the highest levels in Alberta (61 percent), Quebec (54 percent) and Atlantic Canada (48 percent), and among clients working in manufacturing (55 percent), energy (38 percent) and agriculture (32 percent).
Pepper said trade uncertainty "affects people differently" by region and livelihood.
Those in industries "exposed to cross-border trade" face the clearest hit to household finances and future planning, he said.
The poll also points to a generational shift.
More than one-third (37 percent) of advisors believe younger investors will pay closer attention to global developments and geopolitical risks, while 26 percent expect them to grow more cautious and diversify differently than previous generations.
One advisor said geopolitical uncertainty is "showing up in more conversations with younger investors," many of whom absorb "a constant stream of headlines" on social media.
Their goals have not changed, the advisor said, but they increasingly question "whether they should wait to invest."
Pepper said that noise is where advice earns its keep.
Investors now handle "more information and more noise than ever before," he said, and good advice keeps them "disciplined" and focused on "long-term objectives."
