UK financial advice software provider Intelliflo has published its first-ever map of advice in Britain.
Collecting data from three million advised clients, the firm analysed how financial advice is accessed and engaged with across the UK.
The main differences highlighted in Intelliflo’s ‘Advice Map of Britain’ relate to age, gender, relationship status and geographical location.
In terms of age, savers in their 50s are the most likely to receive financial advice, with a quarter of the overall demographic falling into the group.
They are followed by those aged 60-69 (21%), and people in their 40s (16%). Consumers in the 30-39 age bracket make up 11% of the sample, and those under 30 just 5%.
There are “millions of people not getting the help they need with their personal finances”, Intelliflo said.
Relationship and gender
Whether people are in a relationship seems to be a contributing factor on accessing financial advice.
Intelliflo found that the vast majority of people who receive advice (66%) are either married or in a civil partnership, while 23% are single or cohabiting – meaning that singles are three times less likely to seek financial advice than those who are married.
Additionally, 6% of those with an adviser are divorced and 5% are widowed.
When gender is taken into consideration, men are still more likely to receive professional advice than women – with 54% and 46%, respectively.
The gender divide seems to be highest in the north east, Intelliflo showed, with 56% and 44%; while London has the narrowest with 52% and 48%.
Geography
The software provider managed to find postcode hotspots with the greatest number of advised clients.
The top 10 locations in the UK, marking 1.4% of the sample size, are:
- Slough
- Isle of Man
- Leicester
- Bath
- Perth
- Inverness
- Aberdeen (AB15)
- Cardiff
- Aberdeen (AB51)
- Torquay
When the data is broken down regionally, the West Midlands is the area with the greatest proportion of people receiving advice (8%), while London has the smallest concentration (2.9%).
Nick Eatock, chief executive of Intelliflo, said: “Financial advice can make a positive difference to someone’s personal circumstances, especially during challenging economic times. Yet, we can see that engagement with financial advice varies quite considerably, whether that’s a result of where you live, your age or relationship status.
“We believe we’re facing a massive opportunity for change in 2021 driven by a rapid acceleration in the adoption of technology, which plays a vital part in reducing the cost of onboarding a new client and delivering advice to smaller savers.
“With 60% of advisers reporting better adoption of technology with their clients over the pandemic, I believe this will mark a turning point in the way that people are able to access and engage with financial advisers and receive the professional advice they need on complex financial matters.”
