Only a quarter (26%) of advisors are confident in the capability of the Financial Conduct Authority, a new report from NextWealth has found.
According to its Financial Advice Business Benchmarks report, less than half (46%) of advisers feel confident about the stability of the economy.
This year’s report, which included a confidence gauge to measure how firms are feeling about their own business and wider issues, also revealed frustration amongst advisers regarding the adoption of new technology. According to NextWealth, only 21% of respondents are fully confident in technology innovations to make their lives easier.
The firm said the findings also showed a failure among firms to improve the speed of delivering initial advice.
Heather Hopkins, managing director of NextWealth, said: “In spite of new ways of working and huge advances in tech there has been no improvement in the time it takes to deliver advice to a new client. It still takes an average of 33 days to deliver the first piece of advice to a new client. This is something I really hope we see change in the near future.
“While tech can make advice firms more efficient, these firms rely on providers to share data. Tech isn’t the only solution.”
Despite this, 92% of respondents said they feel confident in their ability to deliver good value for money, while 89% are confident in their ability to meet the advice needs of clients.
Over two thirds (68%) of advice firms are looking to grow by taking on new clients, up from 50% last year. Meanwhile, 40% expect to grow by hiring new staff, nearly double the share compared to last year.
NextWealth said the report also showed that growth firms are more likely to refer to client facing staff as financial planners; 59% of respondents compared to 33% for the rest of the market.
Main image: barometer, eric-prouzet-UpA0D0URmvg-unsplash
