Honesty and integrity are key considerations that new advised clients look for when selecting an adviser, followed by independence, according to Investment Trends.
The research house’s latest financial advice report found loyalty increased among advised clients with 75% of advised clients intending to continue their existing adviser relationship, up from 62% in 2020.
However, there was an increasing number of Australians that said they had an unmet advice need at 61%, with an estimated 3.2 million individuals open to using a financial adviser within the next two years.
Investment Trends found while 1.8 million individuals used an adviser, the figure had declined at a rate of 100,000 per year since 2020. The decline was due to perceived high costs and lack of investible funds.
The firm’s associate research director, Kurt Mayell, said: “The pandemic has prompted many to consider their financial situation and many Australians are now looking to expedite their decision to seek or consider advice options.
“Over the next two years, there is likely to be significant demand for advice in areas such as tax reduction strategies capital preservation, and environmental, social and governance investing.”
Investment Trends found over the last year there was an increase in the proportion of advisers clients believing their financial position had improved due to their adviser with the average portfolio growing by $140,000.
The research also found that those with unmet advice needs increasingly said they would turn to their superannuation fund for advice with about 1.5 million members approaching their fund for advice over the last 12 months.
The most common inquiry topics were additional super contributions and changing investment options.
However, barriers that held back members from seeking advice from heir fund were unclear costs and a lack of awareness about what advice topics members had access to.
