MetLife Australia has released new research showing that amid the financial pressures, stress and anxiety caused by the pandemic, Australians have been seeing additional value in their financial advisers and the potential for the advice industry to support them during this time.
Now in its third year, the MetLife Adviser-Client Relationship Report provides insights from consumers and SMEs (with up to 20 employees) who have life insurance purchased through a financial adviser, and consumers who are very likely to see a financial adviser about life insurance in the next two years, the insurer says in a statement.
It states that more than 40 percent of those considering seeing a financial adviser say they are more likely to see one now than before Covid-19.
Other key findings include:
- 80 percent of advised consumers with life insurance feel better about their current financial position as a result of having a financial adviser
- 25 percent of consumers say the pandemic has made them feel they should increase their life insurance cover and those feeling adequately covered has fallen from 89 percent to 80 percent
- The number of people considering leaving their adviser has however jumped from 30 percent to 38 percent
- Recommendations from friends/family, accountants or employers were the top three out of four reasons clients gave for choosing their current adviser
- Clients were three times more likely to recommend their adviser if they received a review during the pandemic.
The company says that insights from its COVID-19 Consumer Insights series help to explain why the appetite for financial advice has grown.
“By May 2020, half of consumers said their financial position had been impacted by the pandemic and around a third had sought some form of support as a result of feeling mentally unwell.
“Further, the MetLife Adviser-Client Relationship research shows the majority (80 percent) of advised clients feel better about their financial position as a result of having an adviser, despite the challenges posed by the pandemic. 82 percent also feel better about having the right level of life insurance.”
…43 percent of advised clients said they had not undergone a review in the past 12 months…
The statement adds that while many advisers offered their clients proactive advice to help them navigate the turbulence, 43 percent of advised clients said they had not undergone a review in the past 12 months.
In turn, half of advised clients who had not received a review said they were thinking of leaving their financial adviser.
The insurer says this highlights the importance of regular client reviews and communication as key factors to enabling advisers to build trust and advocacy with their clients. Clients were three times more likely to recommend their adviser if they received a review during the pandemic.
Meray El-Khoury, MetLife’s Chief Retail Insurance Officer, notes that this year the experience ratings of advised clients was the highest the company has seen in the three years the research has been running, with an approximately 15 percent increase in advisers receiving an excellent rating following a review.
“….Reviews have always been critical in helping advisers drive loyalty and recommendations, but their importance reached new levels during the pandemic and advisers that invest in them proactively will continue to be rewarded.”
