5 ways financial advisors are guiding investors through a hellish patch in markets

• The S&P 500 plunged over 10% before rebounding 9.5% after tariff changes.
• Despite volatility, financial advisors urge clients to stay calm and stick to investment plans.
• Advisors highlight tax-loss harvesting and IRA conversions as strategies during volatility.

It's been a busy week and a half for financial advisors, as their clients' portfolios have seen historic moves.

The S&P 500's 10.5% plunge from April 3 to 4 was among the steepest two-day drops ever recorded in market history. The skyrocketing comeback on Wednesday, after President Donald Trump lifted his excess tariffs for most countries, brought the largest point increases in a single session for the three major indexes. By Thursday, the selling had resumed in a big way.

These ground-shaking market moves spooked investors into reaching out to their advisors, according to professionals in the industry who spoke to Business Insider.

"We are taking a lot of client phone calls, for sure," said Tyler Meyer, a certified financial planner and the founder of Retire to Abundance.

Amid the volatility, the advisors said they are stressing to clients not to panic and to stick to a pre-decided plan — which will be different for each investor.

Here are some other ways the money managers are guiding their clients through all of the mayhem.

Communicating early

A common theme was the importance of being available to clients — whether that means sending out email blasts or being responsive to calls.

Chris Hernandez at Strategic Capital Powered by Waterloo said he's calling clients himself before they reach out.

"During times like this, we really try to be proactive versus reactive and send a lot of communications out via email," he said. "For our clients that we know like higher touch points, we're just kind of calling them and reminding them of the strategies we put into place."

Keeping an eye out for tax advantages

A sell-off is a good opportunity to save money on taxes going forward, according to Tyler Meyer, the founder of Retire to Abundance.

He said he's been guiding clients through potential tax-loss-harvesting opportunities, for example. When an investor has a stock position that is down, they can sell it at a loss and discount that loss from their total taxable income the following year. After selling, they can buy the investment back after 30 days.

A market correction could also be a good opportunity to convert a traditional IRA or a 401(k) — which are taxed upon withdrawals — to a Roth IRA. The latter is taxed up front instead of when withdrawals are made. When the market is down, the tax bill that results from the conversion would naturally be lower than it would when gains are at their highest.

Explaining the macroeconomic landscape

Bryan Kuderna, founder of Kuderna Financial Team, sent a letter to clients on April 4 providing an overview of the macroeconomic picture, including a lesson on tariffs, what the best and worst-case scenarios would be for investors, his personal outlook, and the risks of buying and selling in this market.

"My goal is to bring you up to speed, add some clarity during unclear times, and offer some peace of mind," he wrote in the letter.

Reminding clients of prior downturns

It can be easy to forget the feeling of panic that emerges during a slide in prices because there are often years between major sell-offs.

"People forget in good times how ugly and volatile things can get," said Melissa Cox, the owner of Future-Focused Wealth.

But it's important to remember that the market eventually recovers, and sometimes quite quickly — which investors don't want to miss out on, said Chris Chen of Insight Financial Strategists.

"In 1987 it dropped 22%" in a single day, he pointed out. "And then it bounced back up immediately."

He added: "I think it's really dangerous to be out of the market right now."

Taking profits and preserving clients' peace of mind

Hernandez works with many Apple employees. As shares of the smartphone producer have gotten hammered by 23% thanks to tariffs, Hernandez has helped his clients execute a plan to sleep a little better at night.

Many of his clients have built up a stockpile of shares in the company over many years, and he said some of them have decided to cut their positions by 15-20% to take a portion of their profits off the table.

"I always say money is both logical and emotional, so logically maybe they feel like they should hold onto the stock, but it's keeping them up at night," he said.