According to Skandia International, 39% of the total group of advisers answered ‘no’ when asked whether they think financial advisers are perceived positively by consumers, with 38% answering ‘yes’ and 24% saying they are ‘not sure’.
However, when the results are divided into regions there are significant differences between how each region feels financial advisers are viewed. Those in Asia are by far the most pessimistic, with nearly half (49%) saying advisers are not viewed positively and only 27% answering conversely.
The story was more positive elsewhere, with only a slight majority of advisers in the UAE offering such a negative view of the advice industry and minorities of 33% and 25% in Europe and the UK sharing this view.
Phil Oxenham, head of proposition marketing at Skandia, said: “Thoughts are clearly divided as to whether advisers are positively perceived by clients.
“However, advisers in the UK believe they are perceived more positively than advisers in other jurisdictions, with Asia showing the most negative position. This is a reassuring sign for the UK, and perhaps the changes implemented as a result of the Retail Distribution Review may actually mean the industry is considered in a more favourable light.”
Skandia International, which is the offshore business of Old Mutual Wealth, also asked advisers how they found new clients. A very high majority (82%) of advisers answered ‘word of mouth/recommendations’ to this question.
While ‘networking’, which received 53% of votes, and ‘word of mouth’ were clear leaders for new client generation, an interesting third was ‘referrals from other providers’, with 22% of votes.
The highest number of advisers who offered this as a way of attracting new clients were based in the UAE.
“Word of mouth recommendations are clearly seen as the most valuable source for new clients for advisers across all jurisdictions, although outside of the UK and Europe, networking ran a close second,” added Oxenham.
“Trusting someone to provide you with good quality wealth advice is clearly important, and personal recommendations are perhaps the safest and most reliable option for people to choose.
“It is interesting to see that UK advisers did not place referrals from other professions and networking as high as advisers in other jurisdictions.”
