Public Concern about Immigration and Customer Complaints against Minority Financial Advisors

Abstract

We examine the relation between public concern about immigration and customer complaints against minority financial advisors in the United States. We find that minority advisors are more likely to receive complaints in periods of high public concern about immigration than in other periods, relative to their white colleagues from the same firm, at the same office location, and at the same point in time. This result holds for both complaints with merit and dismissed complaints and is more pronounced in counties where residents likely hold stronger anti-immigration views. We also find that minority advisors are more likely to face regulatory actions or leave their firms after customer allegations in periods of high public concern about immigration than in other periods. Overall, our study provides descriptive evidence of a positive relation between public concern about immigration and customer dissatisfaction with minority advisors. This paper was accepted by Suraj Srinivasan, accounting.