The latest Adviser Landscape Report from Adviser Ratings found the median fee was now $3,710, up from $2,510 in 2018. For some firms, they reported charging as much as $13,000.
However, the year-on-year rise between 2021 and 2022 was only 5 per cent compared to 16 per cent between 2019 and 2020.
Almost all of advisers surveyed (90 per cent) said further rises were on the cards for their businesses thanks to cost pressures and rising inflation and interest rates.
Positively, the number of consumers who said they would pay $1,000 or more for financial advice had risen from 15 per cent to 27 per cent, representing over a quarter of respondents.
Over half of consumers surveyed (63%) stated they would pay less than $500 for financial advice, half the lowest fee charged by firms, and in line with 2021 data.
This year’s report also surveyed consumer demand for advice and found most were respondents aged 56 or older who were seeking advice on building superannuation, preparing for retirement and stock market investment.
Looking at their financial confidence, those who were advised felt more confident than those who were unadvised.
Only 14 per cent said they were not confident compared to 24 per cent of unadvised clients.
I would submit that advice fees have NOT increased by 40%. The median fee may have increased but only because many advisers can no longer afford to service clients below an increasing break-even minimum fee. It would be interesting to see an analysis of clients of planners who no longer get advice.