The incoming pension freedoms and rise of platforms will see more investors flocking online – but without the advice they need, adviser Chris Williams has said.
The chief executive for Bristol-based Wealth Horizon said he was not surprised that more investors had been flocking to platforms to do-it-themselves when it came to managing their money, but he called it a “worrying trend”.
He said: “This has exploded in recent years as more consumers have found themselves trapped in the advice gap. Research conducted in the UK this summer found that, with advisers’ costs approaching 3 per cent, it can be almost impossible for ordinary investors to get the advice they need.”
Mr Williams added: “The solution lies in a half-way house between full face-to-face advice and no advice at all. The onus is on the industry to make them aware of the solutions that already exist and to improve access to more flexible forms of financial advice.”
His comments follow the recent publication of the Cerulli Associates platform report, in which it found that the direct-to-consumer platform assets under administration in Europe and the UK had risen 29 per cent from September 2012 to stand at £93.3bn at the end of September 2013.
Adviser view
Nick McBreen, adviser for Truro-based Worldwide Financial Planning, said: “Investors shunning advice may indeed in reality be an indicator of investor confusion and lack of understanding of the value of advice.
“The default position is do nothing or rely on Mr Google to give you the answers for free, which of course is the internet myth. The reality is still that there are no free lunches: if something is a giveaway then it has no commercial value. That is simple economics.”
