A third claim to use a financial adviser, but only 8% actually do

About a third of consumers claim to use a financial adviser but only 8% do according to a Platforum survey.

In its first report of the year the research house looked at the broad trends among UK investors.

It finds the 36-45 age group is the least likely to use an adviser as 76% in this group do not use one.

The study also points out the fact that 47% in the 16-25 age group and 35% in the 26-35 group claim to use an adviser suggests that many of them have a loose definition of what a financial adviser is.

Also, some 3.1m people in the UK had an ongoing relationship with a financial adviser at the end of 2020, according to data from the Financial Conduct Authority.

This equates to about 5.7% of the adult population and this figure is lower than the proportion of people who say they use a financial adviser on an ongoing basis.

In the report Platforum said: “Couples may jointly consider themselves to be receiving advice where only one is an ongoing client.

“However, this only goes part-way to explaining the gap between actual and claimed adviser use. It’s clear that many people feel they are receiving financial advice, where in fact they are more likely to be receiving help or guidance.”

Other highlights include the number of investors in the UK continues to rise as 42% of adults held investments at the end of 2021.

That equates to 22.6m people, an increase of 3.5m from the previous year.

Engagement with workplace pensions is low across the board, although is correlated with whether people save or invest.

But many investors seldom check their pensions – only 47% check more than annually.