New research from ASIC has revealed 41 per cent of Australians intend to get financial advice in the future.
New research from ASIC has revealed 41 perc ent of Australians intend to get financial advice in the future, which supports findings by Investment Trends in September 2018 that showed 51 per cent of Australians have an unmet advice need.
However, while the findings in the ASIC report, Financial advice: What consumers really think (ASIC Report 627), indicated that 41 percent of Australians would seek advice, the report also revealed that many consumers wouldn’t seek advice due to factors including high costs, industry mistrust and a perception that financial advice was only for the wealthy.
“However, the good news for the industry is that consumers who had recently received financial advice had more positive attitudes towards financial planners than those who had not,” said ASIC Commissioner, Danielle Press.
“Although not all Australians need financial advice, it is imperative that people wanting advice when making critical financial decisions are able to access high quality advice and equally, feel confident that the advice is in their best interests.”
FPA CEO Dante De Gori CFP®welcomed the findings, which confirmed previous research that consumers who had received advice had a more positive view of the financial planning profession.
The research found that consumers generally seek financial advice for investments (45 perc ent), retirement income planning (37 per cent), superannuation (31 per cent), budgeting or cash flow management (22 per cent) and aged care planning (18 per cent).
Interestingly, the research also uncovered that consumer use of digital or automated advice (often referred to as robo-advice) remained low at 1 per cent.
However, De Gori acknowledged that the ASIC research also indicated that barriers, such as the costs of financial planning advice, remained an issue for the financial planning profession.
“The FPA remains committed to working co-operatively with financial planners, the Government and the industry more broadly, to support the growth of our profession for the benefit of consumers,” he said.
Press added that financial planners have an important role to play in helping consumers improve their financial position, saying there was a real opportunity for the advice profession to rebuild trust by reorienting itself and putting consumers at the heart of its services.
ASIC Report 627 was based on an online survey of 2,545 participants, with the results weighted to ensure the results were representative of the Australian population. To read the report in full, click here.
