More than 10,000 clients surveyed by Advisor Impact, a New York and Toronto-based research firm, gave their advisors an average satisfaction rating of 4.6 out of 5, virtually the same as the 4.7 rating recorded every year since 2004.

“I think it is significant that despite all of the turmoil in 2009, clients were still very satisfied with their advisor. That means that it's possible to get it right, even in the face of turbulent market conditions,” said Julie Littlechild, president of Advisor Impact, and author of “Facing the Music: What Happened to Client Satisfaction in 2009?”

However, the percentage of clients considered to be “at risk” of leaving their advisors jumped to 7.2 per cent, up from 4.7 per cent in 2007 and 5 per cent in 2008.

The most important factor preventing a client from leaving, the report stated, is “the extent to which advisors have clearly communicated value and created a ‘disconnect’ between the value of advice and market performance.”

Above all, Littlechild told Family Wealth Report, advisors and wealth managers “need to focus on defining and articulating the value that they provide above and beyond market performance and drive that message home to their clients so they are well positioned for the next downturn.”

Despite last year’s market volatility, clients continued to rate advisors’ trustworthiness, competence and ability to inspire confidence as highly, or nearly as highly as they did the previous five years, according to the Client Index Interim Update survey.

Those findings, the survey stated “demonstrate that when advisors build deep and meaningful relationships with clients, those relationships can withstand external attacks.”

The survey also found that clients want advisors to be more proactive in managing the relationship, and one-third of the clients surveyed indicated they expected four or more reviews per year.

Those demands, however, are placing a strain on advisors by “substantially increasing the cost of service delivery.”

If fees or minimums don’t keep pace with the additional service, advisors face declining profit margins.

But, the report stated, “The number of meetings is less important than what happens in those meetings.”

Meetings, the report said, need to go beyond a backward look at performance and focus on what’s most important to clients.

While clients are generally satisfied with the degree of direct contact with advisors, Littlechild said, they are also asking advisors to understand their goals better and act more proactively to manage the relationship.

“This suggests that the answer isn't more meetings, but more meaningful meetings,” she concluded.