Once your clients have cleared the emotional baggage brought on by disappointing investment returns, they are ready for a few lessons in market behaviour, says Frank Murtha, managing director of MarketPsych LLC in New York and a specialist in investor psychology. These lessons can show your clients how they are susceptible to buying high when all signals appear favourable and markets are bullish, and to selling low when all appears to be doom and gloom.

> Expect periods of underperformance — these are normal. Your clients must be prepared for these lows so they are not duped by their emotions into reactive behaviour. Clients can actually take advantage of market lows.

> Don’t chase returns. Some clients have been through the agony of watching the stock market recover rapidly during the past few months without participating in it, Murtha says. It is an example of the danger of being “faked out” by market behaviour — selling at the lows and missing out on the subsequent recovery.

> Don’t play it too safe. Sitting in low-risk investments such as guaranteed investment certificates and money-market funds is not going to get your clients where they need to go in the long term. This may require some projections, or a “few words from the Ghost of Christmas Future.”

> Avoid the crowd. Discuss the herd mentality, pointing out the importance of establishing a philosophy, an investor identity and a financial plan.

> Find balance. Your clients may need to be led away from behavioural extremes, which could include either running to cash and sitting paralyzed on the sidelines, or making risky moves to plunge wholeheartedly back into volatile stocks in the hopes of making up for their losses as fast as possible. — JADE HEMEON