What Does Great PR Have to Do with Great Financial Advice?
The best financial advisors don't just manage portfolios: they manage perspective. When markets move, clients aren't only looking for investment advice. They're looking for reassurance, context, and someone who can help separate signals from noise. That's exactly what PR professionals do.
Maybe advisors aren't secretly public relations (PR) professionals. But the best ones borrow more from the PR playbook than they might realize.
Bloomberg's recent study reinforces that point. The research found that advisors increasingly view trust-building during moments of uncertainty as central to stronger client relationships. In other words, today's most effective advisors aren't just investment managers; they're communicators.
Curious to learn more and improve your firm’s communications practices? Let’s dive in.
Why Does Communication Matter for Financial Advisors?
When market conditions shift, particularly downward, advisors are indeed under pressure to communicate quickly with clients.
As it turns out, that pressure is eased before money moves.
The same Bloomberg study confirms that 71% of advisors would prioritize client outreach, compared to 56% who would prioritize portfolio rebalancing.
Consider an advisor who works with a PR team to prepare a simple holding statement well before markets get volatile. When a sell-off hits, that advisor can send it to clients within the hour instead of drafting a response under pressure. The advisor doesn’t just react fast; they look more in control, because the groundwork was already laid.
This is standard PR practice: First, gather facts and communicate the basics of what we know before revealing the complete response, allowing for transparency, flexibility, and responsiveness as conditions change.
Where Do Financial Advisors Get Their News From?
Trust in news sources matters. When a breaking news event occurs, 35% of advisors first consult financial news websites and apps to fact-check legitimacy, while 26% turn to social media first, and 11% consult television. Advisors are increasingly wary of problematic AI-generated deepfakes, instead using AI to fact-check news and summarize information quickly.
Similarly, PR professionals hold the same regard for news sources and AI's potential and use multiple touchpoints to verify accuracy before communicating with external stakeholders, which safeguards both their and their clients' reputations.
How Do Financial Advisors Create Worthwhile Content?
Just as communications professionals need to ensure that there is a story behind company news before pitching it externally, advisors must compile a similar set of parameters. When producing firm content, the study shows that advisors prioritize three elements:
Clear data and transparent methodology (59%)
Real-world examples (48%)
Compliance-ready client materials (39%)
How Can Advisors Channel Their Inner PR Pro to Improve Client Relationships?
Looking to improve your client relationships? Take a page from a PR professional’s strategy to elevate your communications.
Use multiple channels to improve reach. Consider your current client base and prospective clients. A blend of email and social media is usually most effective for direct client communications, like market changes or firm-wide news, while blogs can support follow-on educational content that drives awareness and reaches new audiences.
Use AI to create better context, not replace relationships. AI helps PR professionals, too, but use it with care. PR pros use it to research trends and potential angles, not to write for us. Communicators, just like wealth managers, are creative and thoughtful partners, and technology can be our friend in freeing up the space to think clearly and strategically.
Create an integrated communications plan. Beyond managing portfolios and holding semi-regular check-ins, there are many ways to build trust and increase value for clients and their families. Consider blending educational elements that speak to multiple generations, such as blog posts, webinars, or in-person speaker series. Third-party validation is also important, so when advisors are active on LinkedIn or you win an award, that speaks to a broader stamp of approval and a more comfortable baseline.
The advisors who come out of volatile markets with stronger client relationships aren't the ones with the best returns — they're the ones who showed up fastest, clearest, and most consistently. That's a communications skill as much as a financial one, and it's one every firm can build.
Want help building an integrated communications plan for your firm? Get in touch today to see how a PR-informed approach can strengthen client trust before the next headline hits.