Hawai'i investors either weren't rattled or hadn't heard of yesterday's stock market turbulence, judging from the number of calls that local investment advisers and managers said they received.

"I didn't get any calls other than regular business," said Danny Alvarez, a financial adviser with Edward Jones in 'Aiea. "I would think there may be some inquiring (Wednesday). But I don't imagine anyone getting too worked up."

Others had similar responses in the wake of the worst one-day plunge of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 Index in years. Some local companies that are publicly traded were clobbered. Shares of Kapolei-based Hoku Scientific Inc. tumbled almost 9 percent, falling 52 cents to $5.28 each. Among larger companies, Hawaiian Holdings Inc. slid about 7 percent.

MANY IN FOR LONG HAUL

Investment advisers said many of their clients are patient investors who hold stocks for the long-term and don't normally sell when there's a large decline. Moreover, they said they either prepared investors by noting shares had been rising for a sustained period without a major setback or by moving more of the assets to cash while waiting for a correction.

"They're not trading in and out of markets," said Denis Wong, head of a 24-year-old investment firm that carries his name. He said he had been talking to clients about moving more of their assets to cash over the past five or six months because he thought some investment values were over inflated.

"This is a logical correction," he said.

Les Andrews, a financial adviser who helps manage about $100 million of assets, said he often tells clients it's normal to have a 10 percent pullback every year.

"We haven't had one since the market bottom of Oct. 9, 2002," said Andrews, who said none of his clients had called yesterday. "We're really overdue for this correction."

CALLS MAY COME TODAY

At Cadinha & Co., a Honolulu-based company that manages about $600 million for mostly high-net worth individuals, Chief Investment Officer Neil Rose reduced some investments in stocks and shifted some of this into Treasuries. He said the firm has been advising clients to move away from riskier investments such as those in emerging foreign markets because it felt values were getting too high.

"We don't mind holding cash with the risks out there, especially since cash yields about 5 percent today," Rose said. The firm also was in the same boat as many big money managers in trying to decide whether yesterday's decline heralded a downward trend.

"A day doesn't really mean anything," Rose said. "What we're trying to decide on today (is) if this is the start of a protracted period of time when people re-evaluate risk and how to price that risk in various investments."

Honolulu-based C.M. Bidwell, a manager of about $400 million for institutions and individuals, said it didn't alter its investment strategy yesterday because it invests for the long term and tries to stick as closely to that model as it can.

Edward Jones' Alvarez said calls from concerned investors may come today because most were at work yesterday when news of U.S. equity market declines came out. He said yesterday there was little selling but that he did get some orders to buy stocks.

"Typically, most people stay the course," he said.

Reach Greg Wiles at gwiles@honoluluadvertiser.com.