Monitor on Psychology - September 2011 - (Page 52)

practIce proFIle market psychology Frank Murtha helps financial advisers understand why their clients sometimes make such illogical decisions about money. B Y L e A W i Ne RMAN • Monitor staff A market for B ob Patrick has seen enormous changes over his nearly three decades in the financial services industry. The director of education and development for the financial services firm Raymond James in Tampa, Fla., Patrick says that in the 1980s, workers at a firm like his might spend much of their day making “cold calls” to sell individual stocks to potential clients. Today, investors can look up that information on their own online. Now, Patrick says, they turn to financial advisers for longer-term advice, and financial advising has moved from being a “transaction-oriented” to a “relationship-oriented” profession. That transition has proved tough for some financial professionals — and that’s where Frank Murtha, PhD, comes in. Investment advisers are trained to deal with clients’ money, but clients’ emotions — fear, anger, even overexcitement — can leave them at a loss, says Murtha, who has a doctorate in counseling psychology from the University at Buffalo. As a consultant and expert in behavioral finance, Murtha helps these “numbers people” understand why their clients sometimes make irrational decisions about money. His company MarketPsych, based in New York City, coaches Wall Street traders, financial advisers and individual investors who want to understand why people make the money decisions they do. “The folks who’ve been trained as financial advisers don’t have the benefit of the training we got as psychologists,” he says. “What they missed is that ultimately making money is not the goal of investing.” Instead, he says, money buys “emotional returns,” such as the security of a retirement account or the satisfaction of being able to send a child to college. Through his seminars and individual coaching sessions, Murtha helps financial advisers recognize the real motivations behind people’s financial decisions and how to help them Monitor on psychology • septeMber 2011 52

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Monitor on Psychology - September 2011

Monitor on Psychology - September 2011
Letters
President’s Column
Contents
From the CEO
Supreme Court hears psychologists on prison and video game cases
Antipsychotics are overprescribed in nursing homes
New MCAT likely to recognize the mind-body connection
A $2 million boost for military and families
In Brief
GOVERNMENT RELATIONS UPDATE
On Your Behalf
Judicial Notebook
Random Sample
TIME CAPSULE
QUESTIONNAIRE
Speaking of Education
SCIENCE WATCH
An uncertain future for American workers
Advocating for psychotherapy
PRACTICE PROFILE
ETHICALLY SPEAKING
Seared in our memories
Helping kids cope in an uncertain world
APA and Nickelodeon team up
Muslims in America, post 9/11
Bin Laden’s death
‘They expect us to be there’
Answering the call of public policy
Candidates answer final questions
APA News
Division Spotlight
New leaders
AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL FOUNDATION
Disaster relief training
Honoring teaching excellence
Personalities

Monitor on Psychology - September 2011