Consumers are more demanding about the standard of service they receive, a new report from the Association of Professional Financial Advisers claims.
Chris Hannant, director general of Apfa, said the trade body is set to launch a series of short reports over the coming months to celebrate the 15-year anniversary of the organisation.
The first in the series, The Changing Face of the Consumer, a one-page discussion on the Apfa website, explores the changing demographics of consumers in the UK.
It says innovative disciplines had to be applied to better understand and improve the financial decisions consumers make, as consumers today are intolerant of service that does not meet their needs.
| The changing face of the consumer includes articles from: • Sue Lewis, chair of the Consumer Panel, on changing consumer demands and the challenge of winning consumer trust; • Martin Grimwood, divisional director, financial services at GfK, on the demographic impact and potential opportunities for advisers; • Tracey Bleakley, chief executive of Personal Finance Education Group, on the progress of financial education in schools and the challenge of raising the financial knowledge of future generations; and • Steven Andrew, fund manager at M&G, on the lessons to be learned from behavioural economics on how people can be persuaded to do what is in their own interests. |
This was driven in part by changes in expectation, but was accelerated by technology.
Mr Hannant added: “One critical area is how consumers make their financial decisions and how that process can be better understood.
“There are a range of behavioural techniques that could provide advisers with tools to further improve outcomes for their clients, and it will be fascinating to see how they evolve over the next decade or so.”
Adviser view
David Penny, director of Somerset-based Invest Southwest, said: “It would likely be of benefit to advisers, but it depends on an adviser’s profile as a decision-maker. Most have a good idea of the make-up of clients and potential clients, but if you are not face to face with them on a daily basis you might not have the same insight.”
