Confirmation — planning has been hurt by negative reporting
A new survey has revealed the degree to which negative publicity has impacted the financial planning industry.
The RaboDirect Financial Health Barometer survey has revealed a dramatic decline in perceptions of financial planning between 2014-15 — the period during which newspaper and television reports critically traversed issues within Commonwealth Financial Planning, Macquarie Group, and National Australia Bank.
The survey data covers a five-year period during which it noted that there had only been a slight shift in the number of people who distrust financial advice.
But it went on to note that "when looking at yearly comparisons, there was a substantial shift between 2014 and 2015. In 2014, 40 per cent of people said that they trusted financial advice, but in 2015, this figure fell to 29 per cent".
"When comparing different generations, although more Gen Ys trust financial advice, there has been a bigger downward trend year-on-year in this group compared to other generations," the survey analysis said.
"In 2014, 49 per cent of Gen Y agreed that they trusted advice provided by planners or advisers. In 2015, this figure had dropped ten percentage points to 39 per cent."
It said that for Gen X in 2014 this figure was 41 per cent, dropping to 26 per cent in 2015, a change of fifteen percentage points and for Baby Boomers in 2014, the number was 31 per cent, falling to 23 per cent in 2015, a difference of eight percentage points.
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