The proportion of people who have a financial adviser and believe they offer value for money (VFM) has increased by 10 percentage points year-on-year to 82 per cent, according to Scottish Widows’ latest Investor Confidence Barometer.

Scottish Widows stated that, with VFM at the front and centre in the advice market following the introduction of the Consumer Duty, these findings would be “welcome news” for advisers.

The study also found that advisers and clients agreed that accessibility was paramount, with 90 per cent of advisers and 96 per cent of clients saying that being contactable was important.

Nearly all (96 per cent) advised clients considered portfolio performance a top priority, which Scottish Widows said indicated that accessibility and performance ranked equally in the minds of clients.

Furthermore, advisers and their clients felt that specific tools, such as cashflow modelling, were important in demonstrating the value of advice.

Scottish Widows revealed that advisers were taking fewer risks than in 2023, amid a ‘soaring’ US stock market characterised by two-way volatility.

In 2023, 77 per cent of advisers expected equities to rise over the next 12 months, compared to 64 per cent in 2024.

Four in 10 (40 per cent) advisers cited geopolitics as the largest risk to equities, while investors were more concerns about inflation, with 33 per cent of non-advised consumers and 31 per cent of advised clients seeing it as the biggest risk to equities.

Advisers were found to be more confident about equities than investors over long-term time horizons.

Over the past five years, 89 per cent of advisers expected markets to rise compared to 63 per cent of advised clients and 57 per cent of non-advised consumers.

“This survey emphasises the difference that advisers make for their clients, especially when it comes to guiding them through times of market volatility,” said Scottish Widows head of platform proposition, Ross Easton.

“Our barometer has consistently found that advised clients are more confident than non-advised investors, setting them up to benefit from market corrections and recoveries when others are more cautious.

“It’s also clear from our research that advisers believe that having cutting-edge tools helps them to showcase the value of advice to their clients via coaching on stock market trends and scenarios.”

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