Truro revealed as UK’s number one financial advice hot spot for second year

• Truro leads the UK’s financial advice search for 2014, with the highest percentage of population in the UK looking for financial advice
• Scotland says yes to financial advice - Motherwell enters UK’s top ten financial advice hot spots for 2014 and Kilmarnock jumps from tenth place to fourth
• Liverpool, Sunderland and Durham revealed as the three UK areas with the lowest percentage of population searching for financial advice
• unbiased.co.uk’s data shows pensions, mortgages and investments are top advice drivers for consumers in 2014

Taking the title for the second year, Truro is revealed as the UK’s number one area searching for financial advice, by population size, in 2014. Data from unbiased.co.uk, the UK‘s biggest ‘find an adviser’ search, reveals the Cornish city has the highest percentage of population in the UK searching for a financial adviser.

The South continues to show strong demand for advice, as residents of Stevenage and Salisbury have also remained in the top three this year, ranking second and third respectively.

But the figures from unbiased.co.uk, which deals with over 500,000 searches for a professional adviser per year,show Scotland has been on a drive for financial advice this year. A new entry at number nine, Motherwell knocks Exeter out of the top ten most searched for areas as a percentage of population size. Kilmarnock has also moved up the top table, from tenth to fourth position.

Meanwhile, Belfast, Glasgow and Edinburgh have all fallen out of the bottom ten postcodes with the lowest percentage of population searching for financial advice. This year London, which has the highest population in the UK, is in the lowest percentages of populations in the UK searching for a financial adviser.  

Top ten postcode searches for financial advice (by % of population searching for a financial adviser):

Bottom ten postcode searches for financial advice (by % of population searching for a financial adviser):

With changes to pension rules and interest rates remaining high on the news agenda this year, unbiased.co.uk’s data shows the most popular areas that consumers are searching for advice on continue to be pensions, investments and mortgages. Within these advice areas; annuities, pension reviews and transfers, re-mortgaging, ISAs and investing for income are the most sought after. Research from unbiased.co.uk last month showed that 35% of the over 55s said retiring was the event which has had the most significant impact on their lives, and yet despite this, only 26% of this age group had sought professional advice when planning their retirement. Overall, 17% of those who did not seek advice when planning their retirement say they regret not doing so, and a further 17% who did not seek advice at the point of retirement say this was a mistake.

Karen Barrett, Chief Executive of unbiased.co.uk, comments: “Our financial advice hotspots map reveals which areas in the UK have the highest percentage of people searching for a financial adviser in the UK – and Truro tops the list for the second year in a row, showing that people in the South West continue to be more engaged with their finances than the rest of the UK. “Advice is important for everyone though, no matter where you live and how much money you have –our network of advisers do not only work with people who have large pots of money to invest. In August this year, 37.5% of our advisers said they would advise on pension pots of £25K or less, and a further 36% said they would advise on pots between £25K and £50K. “We hear from a lot of consumers that they simply don’t know how to make sense of certain areas of their finances and therefore tend to put off dealing with them. The important thing to remember is that you don’t have to be an expert yourself to seek advice, but it can make all the difference to your family’s future if you do seek advice at the right time. unbiased.co.uk lists over 15,000 whole of market financial advisers and you can carry out a free and confidential search for advisers listed on your chosen postcode.  For some helpful tips to finding the right financial adviser for your needs look at our checklist or for more information visit www.unbiased.co.uk.”

ENDS

Notes to editors:

1. Population numbers based on ONS data. Population numbers only include those 16 years and older
2. Data gathered from searches on unbiased.co.uk using Google Analytics 2014

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The unbiased.co.uk website launched in 1998 and rapidly became the UK’s leading online destination for consumers and businesses looking to find an adviser.  Now attracting over one million visitors a year, unbiased.co.uk is the default adviser directory for consumer websites recommending their audience to ‘find an adviser’.

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