Advisors who can't see that new rules now prevail risk more than they know. Allan Gersten is chairman and CEO of Needham, Mass.-based First American Insurance Underwriters.

There's never been anything like it in the lifetime of most Americans. Much of the wealth millions counted on to fund their lifestyle and fulfill their hopes for the future has disappeared. The tattered emotions of almost every client out there reflect the unprecedented gyrations of financial markets in recent months.

Some are shaking off the shock and coming to terms with what this "new economy" holds for them. But for others, it has just been too much so quickly. In the last year, we have endured the most violent and wrenching economic changes in the economy most of us will ever experience. Many have seen their retirement plans and financial security evaporate. Everything -- their jobs, portfolios, retirement plans, financial goals, even their every estates -- seem up for grabs.

It is difficult to deny that a major shift throughout the world will affect us for a protracted period.

In this deeply troubling situation, what should our clients expect from us? What do we can do to be of help to them? These are important questions for every advisor. Frankly, it's a responsibility we dare not put off or shirk.

Hour of need

Whether we like it or not, the state of the economy brings us face-to-face with what it means to be an advisor. Fortunately, we have a great deal to offer.

Clients vary in their ability to adapt to change, but the need for flexibility is more critical now than ever. This is why an objective advisor can bring understanding to clients as they assess their situation and consider strategies for regaining financial security.

As difficult as it may be for clients to accept, we can point out what they already know but seem to forget in very good times: the only universal constant is change. Second-guessing is useless, blaming others is counter productive, so too is self-blame. What remains is the need to acknowledge, accept and finally embrace the change we can not in any case avoid.

Embracing change helps us recognize the steps clients need to take along a specific and time-tabled pathway to for successful implementation. This in turn helps clients avoid deadly paralysis by putting them in positions to view their situations positively.

The point is that all has not been lost. This view can then be coupled with a commitment to an ongoing action plan for meeting the client's goals and financial objectives -- or to the realization that goals have to be adjusted to match today's realities. Commitment to a detailed plan allows them to see that they are making progress. In the end, this rather than market or business-milieu changes, is the "turnaround" that really counts.

Skillful leadership

Understandably, many advisors are equally distraught and preoccupied with their personal situations, making it difficult to provide the guidance and direction clients need. Yet, the challenge is to offer hope by emphasizing the need for a thorough review, moving the process through the various steps of fact finding to implementation. It's a task requiring all the skill and perseverance a producer can muster.

Clients need skilled leaders to assist them with a plan, reviewing the impact alternative strategies can have on their family -- and, in many instances, a business -- in terms of financial security.

Without question, this is a demanding task, but it is what clients should expect from those of us who we see ourselves as trusted advisors.

The U.S. economy and the free enterprise system have always been a beacon of light around the world. Even when there is sufficient turmoil to shake the confidence of even the shrewdest businessperson, clients need to know that the markets and economy will re-generate -- despite uncertainties in the interest markets, worries about rising tax rates, and the possibility of increased inflation.

Advisors and clients have to embrace today's challenges with a realization that one's true values are affirmed in hard times. We need to maintain a long-term view, accepting challenges as they arise.

No time to lose

There is a sense of urgency in all this: our clients cannot wait; we dare not put them off or delay in seeing each and every one as soon as possible.

Moving forward, we need to the resolve to check with our clients more and more often while remembering to bring genuine value to the discussion in every instance. This is a demanding task, requiring, in many cases, that we hone our skills, re-educate ourselves and pass on what we learn to our clients.

This isn't for those in our profession who are more interested in the rewards than they are in meeting the needs of those they serve. There's more at stake than we realize. Be assured, that many long-term client relationships will disappear if we fail to deliver value at this critical time.

At the same time, long-standing relationships can be strengthened through carefully structured, worthwhile financial reviews. This is the time to evaluate the client's needs and suggest appropriate and qualified alternatives and then implement the plan. It is also true that those clients who are dissatisfied with their current advisors will be looking for others who are willing to take the time to demonstrate a professional and caring approach. Acres of diamonds

Thinking positively, embracing change, taking continuous action, displaying one's competency and accepting the challenge of performing as expected are all critical to success for the advisor and client in this new economy. As always, wonderful things can and will happen to advisors who take their responsibilities seriously. In spite of all that's negative, troublesome and challenging, we are looking at a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Our clients have never needed us more than they do today. We have an unprecedented chance to show them our worth.

Unfortunately, there are advisors who view it differently. Instead of opportunity, they see their little worlds disrupted and turned upside down.

Things weren't so very different a hundred years ago when Russell Conwell, a lawyer from Lexington, Mass., penned a speech that he ended up delivering over 5,000 in 25 years of traveling the country -- an endeavor that made "Acres of Diamonds " one of the most famous and beloved speeches from the golden age of Victorian oratory, and earned its author a fortune of more than $6 million that he used to found Temple University in Philadelphia. The message of "Acres of Diamonds" is simple. The search for great wealth leads men to overlook the fact that its surest means are very often within easy grasp. Selling life insurance is more demanding than ever right now, so it's tempting to cast to far and wide for our own allotments of wealth and success. In truth though, our best means are at hand, in our telephones and laptops and Blackberrys -- and, most of all, in the clients who are in such urgent need of our help. -FWR

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