New client recommendations will be the biggest business opportunity for advisers in 2020, according to a survey by Intelliflo.
The survey, conducted during December 2019, showed that new client recommendations from existing clients was the leading business opportunity in 2019 and remains top of the list amongst advisers for the coming year.
Recruiting extra staff, pension transfers and merging with another firm were also considered top opportunities for advisers over the coming 12 months.
Interestingly, Brexit and regulation were deemed both an opportunity, as well as the leading challenge facing advice firms this year.
Nick Eatock, chief executive officer, Intelliflo, said: “It’s no surprise that regulation tops the list of challenges, but it’s interesting to see it ranks highly as an opportunity too. Regulation such as PROD is one regulation that many advisers are still grappling with but when done well, can provide huge benefits for clients and advice businesses.”
Other challenges cited by respondents included cyber security, recruiting extra staff, robo advice and pension transfers.
Eatock added: “It’s interesting that staff recruitment remains an issue. When we carried out a similar survey last year, recruitment was third in the list of challenges for 2018 and this latest survey seems to indicate that was the case and also that recruitment continues to be a challenge for the year ahead.
“Our experience working with advisers is that those who adapt their businesses to recognise the benefits offered by fully embracing technology can overcome some of the recruitment challenges they fear.”
