Despite the recent improvement in markets, client anxiety continues at very high levels. Among the things fueling that anxiety are the drop in portfolios since last fall, volatility and continued uncertainty about prospects for the economy.

Another important contributor to anxiety is media coverage that sometimes features alarmist headlines and takes tough news and exaggerates it.

In the face of that, it can be a challenge for advisors to help keep clients calm and with their perspective intact. One thing that can help is providing clients with historical parallels, such as was featured in a column in the Globe and Mail.

Advisors who sent this column to clients report a generally positive response. Using a number of examples from the recent past, the column employs the analogy of the swinging of a pendulum to describe sentiment and features the quote "the pendulum never stops in the middle" .

To read the column, go to Globe Articles in the left hand column of the home page of this website and click on "The art of ignoring the pendulum's swing."