Rethinking Risk Tolerance Assessments

In this session, financial psychologist Dr. Moira Somers looks at how traditional risk tolerance assessments have failed advisers and their clients. She issues an invitation for a radical rethinking of risk tolerance so that advisers and consumers can be better served.

Among the issues raised in this session:

• The conceptual limitations and psychometric flaws of many risk tolerance measures Insights from behavioural economics and clinical neuropsychology on humans' problems with assessing risk, predicting emotions, understanding the bases for their decision-making, and directing their behaviour while in certain mental states.

• The value of moving away from fixed notions of risk tolerance, and towards adaptable notions of risk resilience

• The need for cross-disciplinary approaches to the problem.

This session will be of interest to those who are frustrated by the limitations of traditional risk tolerance assessments. Dr. Somers presents ideas for advisers to get better at the personal life centered aspect of advising, especially when working with clients in distress.