Having questioned 2,030 people in March, the trade body compared consumer confidence in the financial advice sector with a similar survey conducted in 2013, before the introduction of a fee-based model.
The survey filtered out 859 respondents who knew they could not afford advice, didn’t make investment decisions, or did not have funds to invest.
The data shows that of the 445 people currently seeking financial advice 60% said they trust and having confidence in their advisers – compared to 43% in 2013.
Women consulting financial advisers accounted for the biggest positive shift in confidence with an 18% increase compared to 13% for advised men.
Meanwhile, of the 726 respondents who were unadvised, confidence levels have remained the same since 2013 at 18%.
Combining both advised and non-advised people those who said they trusted financial advisers rose by a meagre 2% from 32% in 2013 to 34% in 2016.
The PFS said it plans to conduct a similar survey later in the year to track progress.
