Advisors Spend Too Much Time Managing Investments
A 2026 Morningstar Investor Perspectives survey, which included responses from over 500 U.S. financial advisors as part of a larger multi-country study, showed that advisors are still spending more time on evaluating investment strategies than they would like. This is happening at a time when optimism about the market conditions is waning and advisors worry about challenges ranging from geopolitical strife to the possibility of an economic downturn.
The survey showed that advisors continue to spend about a third of their time (27%) on investment strategy, the same as in 2025. Respondents indicated that in an ideal scenario, they would spend only 23% of their time on investment strategy, 14% of their time on operational and strategic initiatives, and over 60% of their time on nurturing client relationships.
In addition, this year, fewer advisors are feeling optimistic about the state of the market. The share of U.S. survey respondents who reported optimism about the market in general fell to 36%, down from 44% in 2025. It was also significantly lower than optimistic sentiment among surveyed advisors in the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, where it ranged from 59% to 63% of respondents.
Another 37% of U.S. advisors reported feeling “steady” about where the market was heading. About a fifth (21%) indicated they felt “uncertain” about market conditions, and 7% said they felt “nervous.”
“Advisors, for the most part, are still feeling steady or optimistic, but they are a little less optimistic than they were in 2025, and they are a little more uncertain,” said Joe Agostinelli, senior director of market research at Morningstar.
Half of the respondents (50%) pointed to geopolitical tensions as their top market concern. This was a jump from 37% who worried about geopolitical risks last year. Another 44% of advisors pointed to inflation as a top concern, followed by 35% who worry about an economic downturn. However, the share of advisors who worry about the impact of tariffs and trade policy on their investments dropped to 14% from 41% in last year’s survey.
The survey showed a modest increase in the number of advisors who offer private market investment options to their clients. This year, 40% of survey respondents indicated they do so, up from 35% in 2025. However, the share of advisors who plan to offer private market investments in the future declined slightly to 5% from 8%, while the share of those who have no plans to incorporate such options remained roughly the same as last year, at 55%.
Exactly half of the surveyed advisors with private market allocations plan to keep those allocations at the same level over the next 12 months. Another 39% plan to increase allocations by 1% to 10%. Only a small minority plan to make either significant increases or decreases to their current allocations, comprising 7% and 4% of respondents, respectively.
“Things didn’t change drastically. But the overall theme that I was seeing in the data was the primary challenges—the concerns about the fees and fee transparency, limited liquidity and underlying quality—those all ticked up a little bit or a decent amount year-over-year,” said Agostinelli. “The primary challenges are becoming even more in focus. I think that’s due to more chatter about private markets and private investments, so the challenges are becoming more prominent.”
Concerns about fees and transparency were cited as the top challenge in conducting due diligence on private market investments by 46% of advisors—a sizeable increase from 38% in 2025. Another 41% pointed to limited liquidity as a major barrier, and 35% cited lack of transparency about underlying holdings. About a third (30%) mentioned the complexity of legal structures underlying private market investments, and 27% struggle with regulatory uncertainty and compliance concerns surrounding such allocations.
In discussing their own fees, the majority of advisors indicated that they held discussions with clients on this topic either monthly or annually, including 38% and 43% of respondents, respectively. Another 11% of advisors said they held these discussions semi-annually. Only 6% of advisors discuss fees every quarter.
Moreover, 41% of advisors said clients rarely ask them about fees, and 30% said clients bring up the topic only “occasionally.” About a fifth (22%) said clients ask about fees at almost every meeting, and 5% said they get questions about fees frequently.
Advisors reported that clients seem to care most about all-in fees (32% of respondents), followed by a desire to know how the fees are calculated (24%). Other concerns include a breakdown of what services the fees cover (16%) and how the fees compare to those offered by other advisors (10%).
About a third of survey respondents indicated they view personal service and responsiveness, as well as long-term relationships and trust, as the best ways to show the value of paying their fees, with 29% citing these factors each. Another 14% said the financial planning services they provided were most effective in justifying their fees, while 13% cited investment performance and portfolio outcomes.
Zeldis Research conducted the online survey on behalf of Morningstar between July 21 and Aug. 16, 2026. It received responses from 1,401 financial advisors, 501 of whom are based in the United States. The rest are based in Canada, the U.K. and Australia.
