Julie Littlechild, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Absolute Engagement, has spent 25 years asking clients what they think of their advisor relationships. Her annual survey of 1,000 high-net-worth (HNW) investors, conducted by Absolute Engagement on behalf of the Investments & Wealth Institute, finds that 87% say it is somewhat or very important for their advisor to hold advanced professional credentials, rising to 91% among investors with $5 million or more. Yet more than half say they don't understand what their advisor's letters mean.
Julie joins host Sean Walters, Chief Executive Officer of the Institute, to talk through what the 2026 High-Net-Worth Investor Research shows about client confidence, advisor expertise, and practice growth, and how advisors can explain their certifications in terms of what clients care about.
The conversation covers:
How to explain your certifications to clients: Tie each certification to a specific client need, such as preparing heirs for a wealth transfer, and cover the education, exam, and ethics standards as supporting detail. In the research, clients who understood their advisor's credentials were more likely to feel confident about their financial future.
Why clients refer a financial advisor: Credentials and good service make an advisor worth referring. The referral itself happens when a friend raises a problem, such as family dynamics around money, that the advisor has already solved for the client.
Do advisor credentials still matter to clients years later? Yes, and more to clients than to advisors. In Absolute Engagement's research, about a third of advisors said their credentials matter as much or more now than when they earned them, compared with 64% of clients.
