What is the value of advice?

Posted on July 23, 2020

You’re not going to be surprised that, as advisers, our firm belief is that an advised client will get a better financial outcome than a non-advised client. How to prove, though, that we’re not just biased? What is the actual value of that advice? How can it be quantified?

Most importantly, the value of advice is not simply tied to fund picking or performance.

A good example of this was when the FTSE 100 fell by over 26% in early March due to panic over the coronavirus outbreak and some advisers chose to move their clients’ investments out of equities into assets, traditionally viewed as ‘safe havens’. Although they may have moved them back into more equity-dominated funds in April, the FTSE 100 actually made its biggest recovery between 23 and 26 March so their clients’ money would have been out of the market at the optimum time. This is a clear sign that adding value by trying to ‘time the market’ does not work.

Financial Advice, in our view goes much further

It can cover:

Behavioural coaching
Spending strategies
Portfolio rebalancing
Tax-smart recommendations
Financial planning

Richard Eastwood our Head of Financial Advice here at Pearson Solicitors and Financial Advisers explains, "Financial advice is all part of building a long-term relationship; where the adviser really gets to know the client and understands their objectives for life."

Behavioural coaching, in particular, can be useful in helping an investor to ignore market noise and to keep their emotions at bay so that they avoid expensive mistakes and stick to their long term goals.

Research over a number of years by the International Longevity Centre (ILC) showed that using a financial adviser led to better financial outcomes in the following ways:

Taking advice added £2.5bn to people’s savings and investments
The pensions of clients who received ongoing advice were worth 50% more than those who took one off advice
Those who took advice were likely to be richer in retirement
The benefits of advice outweighed any costs associated with it

In addition, the University of Montreal estimated that clients with an adviser would have a 2.73 times larger savings pot over a 15-year period than clients who hadn’t seen an adviser. If that time frame was reduced to five years, the savings pot would still be 1.58 times greater.

Different investment companies quote different figures but on balance agree that advisers can generate between 3% and 4.4% per annum net returns for their clients.

"Set against this backdrop, it would seem financial advice does have a real value to offer," adds Richard.

If you are looking for advice about your finances please call Pearson Solicitors and Financial Advisers on 0161 785 3500 or email enquiries@pearsonlegal.co.uk or complete the Make an enquiryonline enquiry form.

Please note that the information and opinions contained in this article are not intended to be comprehensive, nor to provide legal advice. No responsibility for its accuracy or correctness is assumed by Pearson Solicitors and Financial Advisers Ltd or any of its members or employees. Professional legal advice should be obtained before taking, or refraining from taking, any action as a result of this article.

This blog was posted some time ago and its contents may now be out of date. For the latest legal position relating to these issues, get in touch with the author - or make an enquiry now.