Clients unhappy with advice reviews and communication

Advisers are already struggling to adapt to new opt-in and fee disclosure statement (FDS) requirements, but clients have recently shown just how much change is needed in this area to keep them satisfied.

A white paper, conducted by Business Health on behalf of the AFA, assessed the views of 12,000 financial advice clients over a period of four years. It showed low satisfaction levels when it came to the process driven areas of planning firms – including reviews, communication and implementation.

AFA CEO Brad Fox said the findings presented advisers with a great opportunity to improve on these aspects of their services delivery. “It is clear that the review and communication gaps across the industry need to be addressed,” Fox said. “The opt-in and fee disclosure statement requirements of FoFA make it even more compelling to act now to address these gaps.”

Clients have indicated that they want personalised, proactive, regular communication that talks specifically to them and a review process that covers their specific life goals, not just their investments and/or policies.

Fox said the white paper provided evidence to support many of the long held assumptions about what contributes to superior practice performance, such as:

• The value of seeking client feedback
• The importance of segmentation
• The outstanding difference that regular, personalised and targeted communication has on profitability
• The gender impact
• The value of being referable

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