November 2025 • www. fa-mag. com

The‘ Game Over’ Cyberattack Online criminals have hit on a novel new intrusion.

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KNOWLEDGE FOR THE SOPHISTICATED ADVISOR

The Kids Are Alright

Economic turmoil has forced young advisors to become wise beyond their years.

EVERY OLDER GENERATION DATING BACK TO SOCRATES thinks younger people are somehow spoiled, and yet it seems every age group gets tested in different ways by life.

This relationship also works in reverse, too, as the young grow older and start to appreciate what their parents went through. It took most baby boomers until they were adults to realize exactly what their parents, the World War II generation, had accomplished. At the same time, even if boomers were viewed as a spoiled lot by their elders, they were also forced to confront a completely different set of problems than their parents, ranging from the failed Vietnam War to globalization and the eventual deindustrialization of America.

This month’ s cover story on page 28 by Christopher C. Williams takes a look at how the under-45 generation is making its way into the financial advisory profession. The series of events that helped form young adults’ worldview are jarring— September 11, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the 2008 financial crisis, the subsequent job-killing recession and, most recently, Covid-19.

Most of them have entered the advisory business in the last 10 or 15 years, and so likely started advising clients during the 2008 bear market. An advisor who started his career in 2007 once told me a 50 % bear market was a great initiation rite and little since has fazed him.

But even those who were in high school or college during those years probably aren’ t as soft as some older folks think. The real story, as Christopher writes, is that the subset of young people likely to seek out a financial advisor before they turn 50 are likely to be quite successful in their careers; many are smart enough to realize that they can benefit from advice long before they reach retirement age.

Of equal significance is that a comfortable retirement is often a serious goal for these folks. It’ s quite possible that because of everything they’ ve experienced, this

Most advisors under 45 entered the business in the last 10 or 15 years, and so likely started advising clients during the 2008 bear market.

generation will make a better group of clients than their forebears.

Elsewhere in this issue, Dambisa Moyo on page 14 pinpoints an emerging societal problem that will impact the financial advice industry directly: People everywhere are being bombarded with offers enticing them to speculate on almost anything they could dream of.

The gamification of investing may attract new consumers, but it’ s not a serious way to learn investing. And as Moyo observes, many of these new gambling instruments are rife with shady characters and could set markets up for a crash.

These emerging speculative games and technologies are not areas where most established advisors have a lot of expertise. For a young advisor entering the business and looking for a competitive advantage, it could be that becoming an expert in areas like crypto, AI investing and cybersecurity would likely make them an invaluable colleague.

Evan Simonoff

Email me at esimonoff @ famagazine. com with your opinion.

8 | FINANCIAL ADVISOR MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2025 WWW. FA-MAG. COM