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MARKET COMMENTARY
How protection strategies are helping advisors demonstrate value and keep clients invested?
July 24, 2026
In today s climate of geopolitical tension, inflation concerns, and choppy markets, financial advisors are demonstrating that the strong foundations they ve built enable clients to remain comfortably invested and focused on long term goals. Against this backdrop of uncertainty, advisors are increasingly relying on strategies that help clients stay disciplined especially those centered on protection.
In today s climate of geopolitical tension, inflation concerns, and choppy markets, financial advisors are demonstrating that the strong foundations they ve built enable clients to remain comfortably invested and focused on long term goals. Against this backdrop of uncertainty, advisors are increasingly relying on strategies that help clients stay disciplined especially those centered on protection.
Among the top reasons:
Reduce or eliminate client risk exposure
Provide peace of mind
Deliver growth with protection
Improve investment experience
Target defined outcomes
This emphasis on protection reflects a broader historical truth: long term market gains are neither smooth nor free of volatility. Research from MSCI examining daily U.S. equity-market drawdowns from 1946 to 2024 found that on 92% of all days, the market was below its previous peak despite delivering an annualized return of 7.7%.2 This gap between daily experience and long-term results underscores why clients often feel uneasy even in generally strong markets.
To help bridge that emotional gap, advisors are turning to solutions designed to offer clarity, defined outcomes, and measurable downside protection.
The top five downside protection tools identified in the survey were:
In a competitive advisory landscape, the ability to articulate and deliver meaningful protection has become a key differentiator. Protection-oriented solutions elevate advisor value in ways clients feel directly:
When clients know that built-in protection cushions potential downturns, they are less likely to panic or deviate from long-term plans.
Protection strategies allow advisors to manage client emotions in volatile markets by redirecting conversations away from the emotion and toward a structured, disciplined investment approach – reinforcing their role as an advisor versus a forecaster.
Mitigating downside risk helps clients avoid costly market timing mistakes and maintain participation in growth opportunities. The result is a more consistent and confident investment experience.
While multiple tools can support a protection-focused approach, structured products stand out for their dual benefit: they protect clients while strengthening the advisor's business. When surveyed, advisors reported that these tools help them:
Differentiate their practice
Strengthen client relationships
Create better client experiences
Grow their business
Attract more affluent clients
In other words, structured products don't just help clients — they help advisors articulate a more compelling value proposition. Integrating them into client portfolios can:
At a time when clients measure value not only by performance but also by how protected and guided they feel, these benefits matter more than ever.
A Path Forward
Advisors are increasingly rejecting the idea that growth and protection exist at opposite ends of a spectrum. Instead, they re embracing solutions that allow clients to pursue both simultaneously.
By leaning into a variety of protection strategies, advisors can meet these expectations while strengthening their own competitive edge. As markets continue to fluctuate, protection isn t simply a defensive tactic it s a long-term strategic necessity.
