Study reveals fear and loathing from advisers

A newstudy has found 89.2 per cent of financial advisers are either dissatisfied or extremely dissatisfied with the level of success they have achieved to date.

LabelledThe Road Ahead: TheFuture of the Advisory Business, the study also found advisers believe the industry can look forward to increased competition, a growth in holistic wealth management, and the domination of generalists in the market.

Conducted by Australian consulting firm Strategic Consulting and Training (Scat), the study found 75.1 per cent of advisers are expecting increased competitive pressures due to a rising number of new entrants to the financial advice market, and fee pressures from clients and product and service providers.

The results, based on 630 telephone interviews conducted with Australian financial advisers in August 2002, also showed 67.2 per cent of Australian advisers believe that holistic wealth management will emerge as a winning model for the future.

The majority of Australian financial advisers also believe that general practitioners will prove to be the superior business model for the Australian marketplace, with only 8.4 per cent of advisers believing that specialists will be more successful.

The Scatfindings are to be combined with a parallel study of US advisers, conducted by CEG Worldwide, to establish a global perspective on the thoughts of financial planners.

“[The studies] are opportunities to compare the best practices of Australian and US advisers and provide practical advice for planners who are ready to deliver 21st century service to their clients.” CEG Worldwide chief executive John Bowen says.