Consumer Attitudes to Independent Financial Advice

Consumer protection was an important motivating factor behind the introduction of polarization in the Financial Services Act. Despite the potential benefits to the consumer of using independent financial advice as a source of information and a medium for the purchase of financial services, the majority of consumers appear to attach little value to the status of a financial adviser per se and instead attach importance to the image and reputation of particular suppliers. Reports a survey by in‐depth interviews of 140 consumers in the East Midlands, UK, that confirms the relatively low level of interest in independent financial advice, with the groups most likely to use such advisers being identified as the younger consumers from higher social class groupings who do not regularly collect product information from alternative sources such as newspapers and television.