Using a sample of nearly 1,000 wealthy individuals, with between £500,000 and £3m+ of net investable assets, Coredata Research found that more than 40% of wealthy individuals have an adviser, while a further 25.2% use one as and when the occasion arises.
The research’s overall conclusion is that the relationship between the advisers and wealthy individuals is a strong one, with 68.5% of those who have an adviser remaining loyal to that adviser, compared to 11% who got rid of their adviser in the 12 months prior to the survey taking place in August 2012.
The strength of this relationship is echoed by seven in ten saying they would recommend their adviser to fellow investors.
Craig Phillips, head of UK & Europe, for Coredata Research pointed out one considerable increase since the last survey was carried out in 2010 – the number of wealthy individuals in the UK. Two years ago there were 284,317 million UK households that could be described as net millionaires; in 2012 this has risen to 306,655, an increase of 7.9%.
Phillips added: “The research finds that female HNWs place greater trust in financial advisers than their male counterparts. This is also the case among older investors who also profess high levels of trust in their advisers.
“Considering the landscape for financial advice is somewhat precarious, endorsement from affluent investors is encouraging.”
However, the attitudes towards advisers are not exclusively positive, with nearly one fifth of those surveyed believing their adviser tends to over-engineer the advice process, using too many technical terms.
Also, while happy with their adviser’s ability to understand their attitude towards risk, they are less happy with their product suggestions.
