‘Financial advisers should be more like GPs’. An interesting headline. The writer’s rationale is that we should be empathetic listeners, not talk in jargon (‘don’t tell me the Latin names for a disease’) and ‘build trust’. My immediate thoughts (and, sadly, those of most others whom I’ve asked): I should hire a scary receptionist who’ll tell you that you can have a telephone appointment in a couple of weeks, if you actually want to see me it’ll be sometime in 2024 and ask are you sure you really need financial advice as we’re very busy. Both versions are, I think, unfair on both professions but perhaps both we and GPs (if they have time) should reflect on the impressions and prejudices which do exist; and which stop at least some who need it from seeking advice from either of us. Of course, not putting enough into your pension or using your ISA allowance is unlikely to be life-threatening in the short-term. Which might lead to further reflection on the sad-but-true fact that most financial advisers are less qualified than, but earn more than most GPs. And don’t get me started on footballers.
“Financial advice provides £47,000 wealth uplift in a decade”
After a meeting of financial advisers this week, a younger member of my team asked me if I thought there were actually too many financial advisers. ‘How can there be?’, was my first reaction, ’there were over 100,000 of us in the ‘90s, now there are only around 25,000.
