The Equity Mates network reaches more than 600,000 young Australian investors each month. For advisers, these are the next generation of clients. This monthly email shares insights to help bridge the gap between young Australians and financial advisers.

Communicating through a crisis: What can advisers learn from Liberation Day?

What a wild two months for markets. When US President Trump stepped into the Rose Garden and announced his sweeping set of tariffs, investors panicked and share markets sold off. In the following week the S&P 500 was down 12% and the ASX 200 was down 7%. Measured from its recent high in February, the S&P 500 neared a bear market, down 19%.

Alongside the market sell-off was a media frenzy, never ones to waste a good panic in search of clicks and views:

• SBS Australia: ‘Absolute bloodbath’: Historic losses as Donald Trump’s tariffs hit global markets.¹

• ABC News: Billionaires turn on Donald Trump over ‘economic nuclear war’.²

• The Australian: Australian shares haemorrhage $160bn in minutes in ‘ugly’ market bloodbath.³

• News.com.au: Worst still to come following ASX bloodbath.⁴

In moments like this the role of the adviser becomes critical. Helping clients navigate the crisis, avoid making rash decisions and become opportunistic buyers.

Because one interesting dynamic has emerged in recent market sell offs: retail investors have become big buyers. While institutions and hedge funds reduced their long exposure, in early April retail investors were willing to back up the truck and buy the dip. A decision that looks good - at least for the moment.

Two months after Liberation Day, how are you feeling?

With everyday investors becoming net buyers of stocks, we wanted to understand more about how Australian investors navigated the post-Liberation Day market. We went out to the Equity Mates community to find out.

Unsurprisingly, ETFs were the most popular investment over the past two months. When asked what they had been mostly buying, 81% of respondents said ETFs, 14% individual stocks, 5% crypto and just 1% fixed income and bonds.

At the same time, Australians have been hungry for information. Just 16% of respondents said they were not looking for more financial news and information over the past two months. For those that went searching for more, the most popular sources of information were (in order): podcasts & YouTube, traditional news (AFR, SMH etc.), and social media.

In moments where Australian investors are engaged in financial markets and actively searching for information, this is a great opportunity for financial advisers to engage with existing clients and build a profile with potential new clients.

How do you communicate with clients in volatile times?

Moments like Liberation Day ask advisers to go above and beyond. To not just be a financial expert, but become part-psychologist and part-content creator distributing the information clients need to feel reassured and to stick to their long term investing plans.

We asked a couple of advisers how they manage these moments.

When markets turn volatile, I believe one of the most important things you can do is get on the phone with your clients. Email updates, videos, and newsletters all serve a purpose and can offer useful detail, but nothing matches the speed, reassurance, and personal connection of a direct phone call.

Clients want to feel that you’re thinking about them in real time, especially when emotions are high and news headlines are flashing red. A phone call allows them to ask questions, express concerns, and most importantly, feel heard.

They don’t expect you to have all the answers, but being proactive is crucial, particularly for more anxious investors or newer clients. Reaching out early sets the tone and reinforces that you’re across the situation. The rest of the detailed investment material can follow thereafter.

During these calls, I remind my clients of their long-term goals, how we construct investment portfolios utilising multiple asset classes spanning both public and private markets, as well as the exact makeup of their individual portfolio solution (i.e. the split between growth and defensive investments, given we run bespoke portfolio mandates for each of our clients, so no two portfolios are the same).

For some of my clients, particularly those with little or no exposure to public markets, their portfolios may not be materially impacted by market sell-offs. Even so, the reassurance these conversations provide is always appreciated.

I’m also fortunate to be supported by a dedicated internal team of 11 investment professionals focused on investment strategy, research, and governance – something few Australian private wealth firms have the size and scale to offer.

During the recent market volatility in April, following Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariff announcements, this team delivered private client podcasts with our Chief Economist, insights from our Chief Investment Officer, research papers, and even joined client meetings to help support us.

In short, when markets are stressed, communication shouldn’t slow down, it should accelerate and become more personal. That’s what builds trust and deepens client relationships.

During these periods, we prioritise clear, consistent, and proactive communication with our clients.

We ensure we prioritise communication with newer clients, particularly those who have been with us for less than 12 months, as they may not have experienced market cycles alongside us before. We understand that periods of volatility can be unsettling without the context of past experience, so we take extra care to provide timely insights and reassurance. Conversely, many of our long-standing clients have been with us through a range of market conditions and are therefore more accustomed to remaining calm and focused on their long-term strategy. This trust has been built over time, and we are committed to offering the same level of support and perspective to our newer relationships.

Rather than relying solely on email updates, we make a point to call and speak with directly with our clients. These conversations allow us to cut through the market ‘noise’ and focus on what’s truly relevant to their individual financial goals.

We provide context around current events, explain how portfolios are positioned, and most importantly, reassure our clients that their long-term strategy remains sound.

We also regularly host market update events and seminars and invite along our investors to attend and engage with industry experts. These sessions offer an additional opportunity to stay informed, ask questions, a fresh new perspective on real time economic events and most importantly to gain insights into the broader economic landscape. To ensure our advice is well-researched and balanced, we share a wide range of market perspectives and analysis from both internal and external research teams, giving clients confidence in the rigour behind every recommendation we make.

Volatility is a normal part of investing, but it’s how you respond that counts. We like to partner with our clients, and believe that good communication is key to building trust, maintaining confidence, and staying focused on long-term financial success.

The opportunity in UK stocks, managing cognitive biases, finding the right asset consultant. These are just some of the topics we’ve covered recently on Basis Points.

You can check out all episodes on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

As part of our mission to support all Australian advisers, every Basis Points episode is accredited for CPD by the Financial Advice Association of Australia. To claim your CPD Points:

• Listen to or watch the episode

• Follow the link in the show notes or YouTube description to complete the CPD Quiz

• Complete the 3-question CPD quiz

• We’ll email you your CPD certificate

Here’s the two episodes we released in May:

Stephen Arnold made the case for UK stocks and explained why the ‘ex-growth’ or ‘old economy’ labels may need to be retired for some of the truly global market leaders trading in London.

Alec Cutler outlined some of the common cognitive biases he’s seeing in client portfolios and how we can all better manage our emotions to achieve better returns.