Trust is needed in financial services.
Research from the Financial Conduct Authority, Boring Money and The Lang Cat reveals that a lack of trust remains one of the key reasons why millions of Brits have not engaged with financial advice.
Nearly two-fifths (38 per cent) of non-advised people surveyed by The Lang Cat cited trust as a barrier.
Yet data from Elevation, our platform that canvasses views of advised clients, shows that most of them are happy.
It's important for more advisers to collect and promote client stories.Indeed 95 per cent said they would recommend their adviser, while 81 per cent feel confident they are on track to achieve the goals they are working towards with their adviser (with almost all the remainder feeling ‘quite confident’ they are on track).
The disconnect between clients’ experience of financial advice and public perception is frustrating. And risks rash decisions at a time of rising costs and flat stock markets.
There have been great initiatives celebrating the value of advice, but much of it takes place within the industry echo-chamber.
We need to get more brilliant client stories into the public domain.
Word of mouth
This starts with getting word-of-mouth - the most powerful channel in building trust - working properly. Currently only 26 per cent of clients regularly recommend their adviser, despite 95% saying they would be happy to do so.
Increasing client understanding and asking for recommendations are among the factors that will get more clients regularly and passionately advocating for their adviser.
Also, it’s important for more advisers to collect and promote client stories. We’ve found that happy clients are typically delighted to share their stories. And consumer journalists are receptive to publishing them - but they don’t receive enough.
I recognise that we need to do more here. More than 2mn consumers use VouchedFor each year to find, check and review advisers. Their stories are powerful and we clearly need to spread them further.
That’s why we’re trebling the reach of our Top Rated Financial Adviser Guide in 2024.
The guide will share positive client case studies and editorial articles demystifying advice. As well as calling out advisers and firms who have received excellent client feedback on VouchedFor.
The guide will be published in three national newspapers, reaching more than 3mn consumers, as well as being emailed to tens of thousands of accountants and solicitors across the UK.
Beyond the guide, we are collecting client stories from across the advice profession, including those who are not VouchedFor members, and sharing the best with FTAdviser and the consumer press.
If you have a client story you’d like to share, please submit it here.
The challenge of building trust in advice is significant and needs as many people applied to it as possible. Hopefully, together, we can move the dial, getting the profession the recognition it deserves and more of the public the help they need.
Alex Whitson is managing director of VouchedFor
