The research, which was published today (June 14) and is available to purchase, showed a lingering lack of trust remains a barrier to greater adoption of financial advice in the UK.
It found that the average UK adult finds financial advisers less trustworthy than lawyers, police officers and priests but they are more trustworthy than builders, journalists, fund managers and influencers.
The research found that just 16 per cent of non-advised UK adults said financial advisers were one of the “most trusted” professions.
Yet this number doubled amongst advised adults, confirming that many who do seek advice have a positive relationship with their adviser.
Meanwhile, since 2021 the percentage of UK adults who said they would use a financial adviser dropped from 51 per cent to 42 per cent.
At the same time, the percentage of people who said they would use social media for financial advice was on the rise during that time – up from 4 per cent to 10 per cent.
Holly Mackay, chief executive of Boring Money said the findings show that the advice gap remains “persistently high”.
Mackay noted that over 12mn people do not have the financial support they desire.
“Better technology can play a role in supporting advisers to help more customers. However, on the demand side, a key impediment remains the lack of trust, most notable amongst those who don’t have an adviser today,” she said.
“A lack of clarity about the benefits of financial planning, combined with opacity around charging, are key contributors to a lingering sense of suspicion about the profession.”
The finding chimes with recent research from the Lang Cat, which concluded last month that if the profession takes action to improve trust it has the potential to double the number of people paying for advice in the UK.
In addition to analysing the advice gap, the Boring Money report also looked at the changing environment for financial advice in the UK and explored mass market solution for some of the largest issues in the sector.
The report, which includes a nationally representative survey of 3,000 UK adults, plus a boosted sample of High Net Worth individuals is available to purchase from Boring Money directly.
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