UK. Advice sector must do more to attract younger clients

There is a worrying stereotype attached to the financial advice sector: it is interested only in clients who have accumulated a large amount of wealth — so it can easily acquire assets under management.

This translates to a tendency to serve clients who are old, who have paid off their mortgage and who have a defined benefit (DB) pension.

We have passed ‘peak DB’, with more people now saving through DC schemes

The ideal clients, in other words, are the Babyboomer generation, and anyone who does not fit that profile is given less attention by advisers.

The sobering fact for the profession is that this stereotype has a lot of truth to it. A recent report by Technical Connection for St James’s Place on the future of financial planning reveals the current big picture.

Surely there will be a tipping point for the profession, when advisers start to focus on the savings of the less affluent

It says: “Advisers are so focused on servicing what’s seen as their ‘sweet spot’, not enough are sufficiently broadening their service to the younger demographic as they have lower levels of assets under management.”

 

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