Large product providers going direct to clients is seen as the biggest threat to adviser businesses, according to a poll carried out at two recent Intelliflo ‘Change the Game’ conferences.
The poll also found almost two thirds don’t want a Brexit in next week’s referendum.
The conferences, held in London on 7 June 2016 and in Manchester on 14 June 2016, were attended by 700 financial advisers, paraplanners and product providers and featured keynote presentations from James Woudhuysen, professor of forecasting and innovation at De Montfont University and the financial commentator and co-founder of Seven Investment Management, Justin Urquhart-Stewart, who shared his views on the economic outlook should the UK vote to leave the EU on 23 June.
During the morning session adviser delegates at both conferences were polled on a number of questions. Around two in five (39%) of 264 who answered the question about what they see as the biggest threat to their business selected large product providers going direct to clients, a marked change to the results found when the same question was asked at the 2015 conference in London. Back then self-select websites (robo-advice) was seen as the major threat, with 65% of delegates selecting this. This year, only a fifth (19%) of the delegates had this as their number one concern.
Nick Eatock, Intelliflo’s Executive Chairman comments: It’s clear that the fear that robo-advice might take away business has subsided as advisers have gained a better understanding of what it is, how it works and where the opportunities for them lie in harnessing auto advice to enhance their own businesses.
Asked where they stood on Europe, almost two thirds (63%) voted ‘in’ and 37% ‘out’, a change since Intelliflo polled their clients in March 2016, when half (50%) said they would welcome Britain leaving the EU.
