Widening access to advice
The Advice Map of Britain shows that married men over 50 are prevalent among advised clients, accounting for one in five individuals receiving financial advice in the UK.
Finding ways to engage more women, younger generations and single people with their long-term finances and reduce geographical disparities is crucial to widening access to advice.
As well as the positive impact on society and people’s futures, there are major business benefits to addressing the advice gap.
According to Royal London advice gap research, around 39mn adults in the UK fall into the advice gap, but of those, 3.7mn people are open to receiving professional financial advice and have investible assets worth more than £50,000, creating a £185bn opportunity for advisers.
Firms wanting to grow their business and extend their reach beyond the current traditional advised client base need to consider how best to set themselves up for success.
Embedding technology within the advice journey is key to opening up advice to new audiences and delivering significant benefits to clients, while at the same time ensuring the continued profitability of the firm.
By streamlining adviser processes, technology can improve efficiency and overall business performance and reduce the cost of servicing clients.
Our 2022 e-Advice Index, which analysed a firm’s business metrics alongside its use of intelliflo office, revealed that advisers who use all parts of the system generated per adviser 54 per cent more revenue and 76 per cent more ongoing revenue than firms using just the core functionality.
Technology can also improve a firm’s capacity to manage new clients, with the eAdviser Index showing that high-tech adopters can service 39 per cent more clients than their low-tech counterparts.
With the low growth in adviser numbers we have seen in recent years, helping firms manage more clients without increasing headcount will be central to broadening access to financial advice.
In addition, technology is vital in supporting advisers in widening the reach of their firm into new geographical locations as well as servicing clients who prefer to access information outside of normal working hours.
By using client portals and virtual meetings, advisers can meet the needs of today’s hectic lifestyles, or expand beyond their traditional radius for in-person meetings to offer advice regardless of the client’s location.
With persistent inflation, high interest rates, economic uncertainty and volatile markets, many people now face serious financial challenges, making financial planning more important than ever.
Advisers remain crucial to delivering quality financial planning, but technology holds the key to bridging the advice gap and supporting firms’ long-term success.
Nick Eatock is the chief executive of intelliflo
