Introduction
Welcome to the latest edition of our Scottish Widows Investor Confidence Barometer. The Barometer stands out as a differentiated survey within the wealth industry since it compares the views of financial advisers with those of advised and non-advised consumers.
The Barometer aims to drill into the pain points, needs and desires of both advisers and investors, so that so we can build the most representative picture of the advice industry. The results are, at turns, revealing and provocative and the data is also instrumental in informing our product development roadmap.
It has been another eventful year. Stock markets have shown notable resilience in the face of an expanding ‘wall of worry’, while advice firms and providers had to deal with the removal of the LTA and, more recently, intense speculation over the October budget. We present three key themes in this edition:
- Advisers embracing change recognises that advisers have had to deal with lots of regulatory change in recent years, which has increased workloads and costs. Yet, the over-arching message is positive as rule changes have allowed advisers to demonstrate the value of advice to clients and prospects. Encouragingly, technology progress is also seen by advisers as a means to manage greater amounts of clients, in future.
- Mixed signals on investment confidence considers why advisers are typically more bullish over the longer timeframes and points to the great value that cashflow modelling tools, like EVPro and Voyant, can play in reassuring investors (both tools are available as integrations our platform).
- Recognising risks in the platform market provides a fascinating insight into how advisers view the likelihood of a platform experiencing a financial failure. It also reveals how advisers have re-evaluated their thinking around due diligence in the light of the FCA’s Consumer Duty, given the need to consider a range of foreseeable harms.
At Scottish Widows, we understand the value of advice and want to support advisers by delivering on our ambition of being the easiest platform with which to do business. We know we can only do that by listening to advisers and investors. The Barometer is just one of the tools we can draw upon to get a sense of what is front of mind with advisers and investors alike.
Our adviser engagement has already informed key elements of our platform development, allowing us to deliver user interface improvements, back-office integrations, and the delivery of on-platform tools. And, we have many more developments coming as we continue to invest in our platform to meet the developing digital and financial needs of advisers and their clients. We look forward to working with advisers to deliver good customer outcomes and to demonstrate the enduring value of advice.
Who took part?
Fieldwork was carried out between 19-24 September 2024. We surveyed 200 financial advisers using Research in Finance’s adviser panel. We also surveyed 500 advised investors and 500 non-advised investors via Censuswide. Both investor sets were based on consumers aged between 35 and 70, with at least 100K in investable assets and a pension.
