Introduction
Welcome to the Scottish Widows Investor Confidence Barometer, which builds on the legacy that we’ve established over the past few years via the Embark Group brand.
This Barometer brings a wealth of historical data from five previous Embark editions, which allows us to showcase key trends and patterns, while leveraging the power behind the Scottish Widows brand and the resources and knowledge within Lloyds Banking Group.
The strength of the Barometer rests in its unique positioning, sitting at the crossroads between financial advisers, advised investors, and non-advised investors.
By weighing the opinions of over 1,500 individuals (502 advisers, 502 advised investors, and 500 non-advised investors), the Barometer provides differentiated insights into key industry issues from a range of key audience perspectives. Together with our Scottish Widows Paraplanner Survey, this breadth of coverage enables a richness of view that is unparalleled within the UK advice industry.
It has been another eventful year, with Consumer Duty finally taking hold, global conflicts fuelling doubt in nervous investors, and commentary on the widening advice gap prominently featuring in IFA media.
In this issue, we highlight three key themes. Gearing up for the great wealth transfer reveals that advisers are not always walking the talk on intergenerational planning and more can be done to engage with younger generations. Perspectives on the advice gap examines adviser and investor perceptions about advice and its value. Lastly, Bullish advisers, cautious investors highlights how a gap has opened up between adviser and investor confidence that may be rooted in investor psychology. We highlight how advised clients benefit significantly from behavioural coaching – one key part of ‘adviser alpha’ – which helps investors to weather negative news and remain invested.
At Scottish Widows, we are committed to working with advisers in all these key areas – on estate planning and bridging the gap to younger investors, on championing the value of advice, and in demonstrating the various ways advisers can add ongoing value throughout the investment journey.
Who took part?
Fieldwork between 8th – 18th of September 2023.
