IFAs the most trusted source of advice for retirement planning

The research asked the public who they turned to for advice on retirement planning, and for the third year in a row financial advisers were found to be the most trusted source, ahead of friends and family.

This result is positive news indeed for the IFA sector and, given the improvements to professionalism encouraged by the FSA’s Retail Distribution Review (RDR) roadmap, ensures that consumers will be able to continue to rely on IFAs as a trusted source of advice for retirement planning.

Defaqto’s research also asked members of the public to confirm whether or not they had sought advice on planning for their retirement, but consistent with last year’s findings only one-quarter of consumers had done so (24%).

A core aim of the RDR is to make financial advice more accessible to a wider range of consumers. The acid test will therefore be to see whether consumer engagement with the advice sources made available by RDR increases. This will only be achieved if the industry can meet the challenge of delivering innovative advice solutions through the guided sales and money guidance channels.

The Consumer section of Defaqto’s report revealed the full findings of its retirement and income survey (2). The savings habits of consumers over the past 12 months are appraised, their sentiment towards key pension savings and retirement income issues was discussed and their trust levels placed in advisers, providers and the Government are gauged. Defaqto’s recommendations and calls to action for key market players are also included.

Notes

(1) Retirement Savings and Income Report 2009 – ‘A time for change’ was launched on the 8th December

(2) Research conducted on Defaqto’s behalf by GfK/NOP – 1,008 respondents