Matt Lippiatt,<\/strong> MetLife Australia Head of Adviser Experience, said: \u201cOur industry has traditionally operated on a commission-for-advice model which has proved to be a highly effective charging method, however it\u2019s clear from the research that customers are looking for options when it comes to how they pay for their financial advice.<\/p>\n\u201cThere\u2019s a growing number of consumers who are interested in fees as an alternative payment structure for risk advice which means it\u2019s important for advisers and product manufacturers to offer consumers multiple options when it comes to paying for financial advice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Lippiatt also noted that consumers don\u2019t have a problem paying for their insurance advice by way of a commission taken from the product, but there is an opportunity for greater education around how they work.<\/p>\n
\u201cAdvisers who are embracing highly transparent charging models and have systems in place to continuously educate clients about the value they provide seem well placed to thrive in this environment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The report also noted that for SMEs, the top reason for seeing a financial adviser was seeking out life insurance (59 percent),\u201d the insurer notes.<\/p>\n
It says that these findings indicate consumers have a range of preferences when it comes to paying for financial advice, highlighting the importance for advisers to consider offering a variety of payment structures to clients.<\/p>\n
The insurer says the report, which is now in its second year, is the largest quantitative study of its kind and includes insights from consumers and small to medium enterprises 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.<\/p>\n
The research also pointed to a lack of awareness around the commission advisers earned.<\/h6>\n
The research also pointed to a lack of awareness around the commission advisers earned, with just over half (55 percent) of consumers unaware of the amount of commission their financial adviser receives.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite this, when asked if removing commissions would impact the likelihood of seeing a financial adviser, nearly half of consumers indicated they would not expect the removal of commissions to change their willingness to see an adviser, while only one in five (19 percent) said it would make them more likely to see an adviser.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the Australian government considering the removal of commissions, it is important to understand how this may impact the degree to which consumers are insured,\u201d the insurer says.<\/p>\n
\u201cNearly three quarters (72 percent) of consumers thought removing commissions would result in more people being under-insured, which may be due to the perception that this would lead to higher up-front fees resulting in people choosing lower levels of cover.<\/p>\n
Consumers and SMEs considering changing their advisers<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
In part of his introduction to the full report Richard Nunn<\/strong>, CEO MetLife Australia, notes that the research also found that one third of consumers and half of SMEs are considering changing, or no longer using their adviser in the next 12 months.<\/p>\nHe writes that this is a concerning statistic \u201cwhich highlights how important it is for advisers to demonstrate the ongoing value of the service they provide. Advisers can\u2019t take their clients for granted. With such a high proportion of consumers and SMEs looking for change, advisers must constantly be looking for ways to build trust and develop genuine relationships with clients\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s no surprise that honesty and trustworthiness are the major factors people consider when choosing a financial adviser.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose advisers who take the time to have deep and ongoing conversations with their clients about their individual needs, and demonstrate the benefits of personalised and tailored advice, will likely gain a competitive advantage,\u201d Nunn writes.<\/p>\n
Click here<\/a> to view the full report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New research released by MetLife Australia reveals \u2018commission\u2019 isn\u2019t a dirty word, but suggests financial advisers should consider implementing a range of payment options to suit the individual needs of clients.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":47915,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,270],"tags":[8236,4247,8237,8234,35,8235],"class_list":["post-47864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-general","category-remuneration","tag-adviser-report","tag-feature","tag-fees","tag-matt-lippiatt","tag-metlife","tag-richard-nunn"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47864\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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