Skandia International’s latest Adviser Confidence Barometer, conducted in the first quarter of this year, found a marked increase in the confidence of advisers, with an overall rise of 10% on the last quarter of 2011 bringing levels from an average of 5 to 5.5 out of 10.
The survey also indicates advisers are slightly more upbeat about their local economies, said Skandia, with confidence levels increasing from 5.3 to 5.6.
Specifically, advisers based in Asia showed the most faith in their local economies, with an average score of 6.6. Of these, those based in both Hong Kong and Singapore showed the highest levels of confidence, reporting levels of 6.7 out of 10.
In fact, the confidence advisers have in their local economies increased in every region except Europe, where Skandia said ongoing uncertainty over the debt crisis led to a dip in confidence levels from 4.6 in Q4 2011 to 4.4 now. Curiously, these same advisers had the highest level of confidence in the global economy, with an average score of 5.7, representing an 8% increase since the survey was last completed.
Skandia points out that of all advisers surveyed, only those from Europe and the UK had more confidence in the global economy than their own.
Meanwhile, adviser’s fears over where a potential threat to their local economy would come from have changed, with the more than two thirds now citing the European debt crisis as the biggest potential threat. This is in contrast to the two previous quarters where global contagion was seen as the biggest potential issue. The second biggest threat cited was unemployment, with 36% of advisers believing it may negatively impact their local economy.
Phil Oxenham, marketing manager at Skandia International said: “The European debt crisis continues to have a significant impact on adviser sentiment. The findings of this survey clearly show that financial advisers globally are concerned about the continued effects of this on their own regions.”
