You are here: Home > Media > Press releases > Consumers Continue to Seek Independent Financial Advice as Fears of Recession Loom

• Print Page

Consumers Continue to Seek Independent Financial Advice as Fears of Recession Loom

• Unbiased.co.uk’s latest Advice Drivers report shows that over 125,000 consumers have requested details of independent financial advisers  in the last three months
• As fears of a recession loom, consumers seek advice on personal retirement planning, investment and savings, with personal protection also an increasingly popular topic

New figures from Unbiased.co.uk, the find an Independent Financial Adviser search, reveal that as the UK continues to feel the effects of the global financial crisis, over 125,000 consumers have sought guidance from an independent financial adviser in the last three months.

Nearly 30% of searches for local IFAs through the ‘Find an IFA’ service, requested advice on personal retirement planning, as consumers continue to worry about how the credit crunch will affect their pensions.  The figures also reveal how more consumers (now at a high of 6% of all searches) are searching for advice on personal protection, as fears of a recession force many consumers to contemplate losing their jobs.

Unbiased.co.uk’s Advice Drivers report demonstrates once again consumers’ commitment to independent financial advice, with Unbiased.co.uk receiving over half a million requests for details of local IFAs in the last 12 months.   Consumers are not searching for advice on mortgages as much as they did in the past – with searches for details of a local IFA to advise them on this area dropping by 41% compared to this time last year.

The Advice Drivers report highlights personal protection as the largest growth area for advice, with nearly 4,000 requests for advice on the subject in the last three months – an increase of 18% on the final quarter of 2007.

David Elms, Chief Executive of Unbiased.co.uk, commented:

“Our latest report demonstrates that as consumers continue to worry how the credit crunch will affect their savings and pensions, they are putting their faith in IFAs to guide them. As fears of recession loom, consumers need expert advice more than ever, and whole-of-market IFAs are the best-positioned to serve these needs. It is also reassuring that with increased interest in personal protection, consumers are seeking the gold standard of advice in order to decide on whether such products are appropriate to them.

The top ten Advice Drivers in the third quarter of 2008 were as follows:

The report is compiled on a quarterly basis from comprehensive data collected as a result of individual consumer selections made when requesting details of a local IFA through Unbiased.co.uk.

^{*IFA Promotion figures using consumer searches on www.unbiased.co.uk NB: more than one product area can be selected}

 

^{*IFA Promotion figures using consumer searches on www.unbiased.co.uk NB: more than one product area can be selected}

For further information please contact:

For expert comment or case studies from over 200 media-friendly IFAs, journalists should visit www.unbiased.co.uk/bluebook to search online or call Unbiased.co.uk’s Media Services hotline on 020 7294 3682.

PLEASE NOTE: We have now discontinued the consumer hotline and so consumers seeking an IFA should visit www.unbiased.co.uk

1.      Unbiased.co.uk

Unbiased.co.uk is a not for profit organisation which promotes the benefits of Independent Financial Advice to UK consumers. 

Unbiased.co.uk, which is in its 19^th year, helps create over 7,500 pieces of positive coverage in the consumer media each year, highlighting the importance of seeking independent financial advice across online, broadcast and print media. This positive media generation influences consumers’ behaviour and increases their awareness of the benefits of seeing an IFA.

Unbiased.co.uk is now the online gateway between consumers researching their financial advice options online and IFAs. Over 60 white label versions of Unbiased.co.uk’s confidential ‘Find an IFA’ service are now running on partner websites including those of media and portal money channels, product provider sponsors and other industry bodies.

Over the past 12 months, over 525,000 consumers have used Unbiased.co.uk’s  ‘Find an IFA search’, or one of the white labels, to find a local IFA – and 94% of these enquiries were dealt with online.

When searching for a ‘Find an IFA’ on UK Google, around 80% of the returned links over the first five pages of search results now display either Unbiased.co.uk directly or a white label version of Unbiased.co.uk’s ‘Find an IFA’ service running on a partner website. To support this activity Unbiased.co.uk now regularly provides white label versions of its consumer guides, tools, microsites and podcasts to partner personal finance websites.

2.      Unbiased.co.uk’s product provider sponsors

Aberdeen Asset Management	Lincoln Financial Group
AEGON Scottish Equitable Plc	Lockton
Alliance Trust	Lutine Assurance Services
AXA Life	MetLife
Bright Grey	National Savings & Investments
BPP	New Star Investment Funds
Canada Life Ltd	Norwich Union Life
Cardif Pinnacle	Prudential
The Children’s Mutual	Scottish Life
Clerical Medical Investment	Scottish Life International
Defaqto	Scottish Widows Plc
Friends Provident	Standard Life Assurance Company
The Hartford	Tomorrow
Invesco Perpetual	Unum
Legal & General	Zurich Intermediary Group

Registered Office: Unbiased.co.uk is the consumer brand of IFA Promotion Ltd, 90 St. Vincent Street, Glasgow G2 5UB. Registered in Scotland: No. 114606