Adviser sentiment improves: Wealth Insights

Australian financial advisers look set to finish 2012 in a better mood, according to the latest research released by Wealth Insights.

The research, dealing with both investor and adviser sentiment during the early weeks of November, has revealed that financial planners and their clients are feeling more positive than they have for much of the year - but that this is not necessarily being matched by their ultimate investment decisions.

According to the Wealth Insights data, more advisers than at any time during 2012 are saying that times are good - something which appears to reflect the steady performance of the Australian Securities Exchange and some less negative global economic news.

Wealth Insights managing director Vanessa McMahon said the research reflected a very mixed picture with respect to the financial advice community in Australia at the moment.

Both investor confidence and adviser sentiment are at the highest points they have been this year.

McMahon said this was reflected in the fact that 35 per cent of advisers said that times are "good" or "very good", while half of advisers (53 per cent) still classified times as "average" and another 13 per cent reported experiencing "bad" or "very bad" times.

McMahon pointed to the significant general improvement in sentiment which had occurred between Wealth Insights' research conducted in June and that carried out in November. This was particularly with respect to investors who felt somewhat confident or confident, which had risen from 6 per cent to 27 per cent.

However, she said this had not translated to action, with around only 15 per cent of investors indicating they had moved back into the market.

McMahon said she believed this indicated there was still some way to go before improving sentiment was likely to translate into increased market exposure.

She said the bottom line appeared to be that advisers remained nervous about advising undue market exposure - something which represented a turnaround from the experience prior to 2008.

"Before the global financial crisis, advisers were prepared to make solid calls with respect to market exposures; they have been far more cautious over the past four years," she said.