“That is a very different from the answer you might have gotten certainly 20 years ago.”
Technology could be the change
Andy Thompson, CEO at Solomon Capital Holdings, said many current advisers began their careers with selling products to young people for commission.
“Guess what, are a lot of those young people cursing you today for that? No they're not, they’re very happy, and although we're not getting back to that, we do need to get back to a way of supporting them.
“We’re in a world where it is far easier for an 18 or 25 year-old to invest in crypto than it is to get pension advice. That cannot be right.
"If you bring technology in, that does reduce the costs of delivering advice and can bring in more people.”
He explained that the current environment really demonstrates the importance of financial planning rather than transactional advice.
"Reassurance is not a once a year check in, and there is a big dichotomy between what a client is getting from a D2C versus an adviser,” he said.
He argued that if advisers use more technology, clients can benefit.
Likewise, Cowan said greater technology adoption was needed.
Cowan said: "People's experience of life is very digital and it's fair to say financial advice is far behind the consumer experience.
"Consumers expect things to be delivered in an immediate way. Things taking four weeks will no longer be good enough."
Elsewhere, Goss explained while there is a need for technology, there has been a shift.
He said there was a time when technology was looked on as the answer and while it can do the “heavy lifting”, it is no substitute for an experienced professional.
"The role of the adviser is to listen, understand, empathise and help,” he said.
“Advice since the global financial crisis has become more sophisticated and we cannot underestimate the challenges."
sonia.rach@ft.com
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