Public Concern about Immigration and Customer Complaints against Minority Financial Advisors

In era of immigration fear, minority advisors face backlash

Key takeaways:

• Public attitudes toward immigration spillover to influence their perceptions of and satisfaction with their minority financial advisors, leading to more customer complaints against these advisors when immigration concerns are high.

• Heightened public concern about immigration appears to make investors more likely to both detect genuine misconduct and make unfounded allegations against their minority advisors.

• The tendency for immigration fears to color clients' views of their advisors is most pronounced in parts of the country that are more opposed to immigration in the first place.

• When anti-immigration sentiment rises, minority advisors come under greater scrutiny from both clients and their employers, facing increased regulatory action and higher likelihood of leaving their firms.