Consumers ‘Not Worthy’ of Receiving Financial Advice

Our latest poll looks at whether consumers believe their modest personal circumstances merit professional financial advice.

At the heart of this question is how Australian consumers generally view the role of financial planners/advisers. For those in society who are not considered to possess ‘high net wealth’, there has always seemed to be a perception problem about how a professional financial adviser can add value: “I have little-to-no money to invest, or assets to insure, so why would I need to pay for the services of an adviser?”

While a proportion of the professional adviser community structure their advice proposition towards the high net wealth client, there remains a huge market of prospective clients in Australia who would benefit from engaging with financial advice professionals. The challenge remains how to convince the majority of Australians that this is the case.

In the lead-up to the 2014 AdviserEdge Conference, Principal, Baz Gardner, has called for a change in community thinking where it will be considered a normal part of life to have a financial adviser (see: Fear of Advice Holding Industry Back). Mr Gardner, a former adviser, suggests there are two key issues that prevent a greater take-up up of professional advice in Australia. One of those issues relates to the consumer attitude that because they don’t have hundreds of thousands of dollars to invest or significant assets to insure, then advisers won’t be interested in them. It is effectively saying “I’m not worthy.”

The challenge, according to Mr Gardner, is for the advice industry to change that general consumer perception. Do you agree this is the challenge? Or do you have another take on the issues that must be addressed in order for more advisers to engage with more consumers? Tell us what you think…