MetLife said its research found 68% of advisers felt the costs of offering advice outweighs the returns, and 52% said regulatory barriers and risks of providing advice stop them helping the less well-off.
It believes a simpler advice model and lighter touch regulation would help expand advice and believes reform of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme and the Financial Ombudsman Service would provide further support.
MetLife said it had commissioned the research for its response to the Financial Advice Market Review (FAMR) currently being conducted by the UK Treasury and the Financial Conduct Authority.
The survey was carried out from 19 to 23 November last year via 1,027 online interviews with consumers across the UK. The survey also conducted 101 online interviews with financial advisers between 19 and 24 November, 2015.
Submissions to the FAMR closed in December and since then the FCA has revealed it is considering reintroducing limited commission payments for certain retail products to help tackle the advice gap in the UK market.
Market not working
“It is clear that the current environment is not serving the best interests of the less well-off,” said Dominic Grinstead, managing director of MetLife UK which is part of MetLife Europe, an Irish insurance company based in Dublin.
“The lighter touch model would be equally robust in terms of ensuring that the best possible outcomes are achieved for customers, but crucially it would be designed to be appropriate for the needs that the mass market are more likely to face.
“Digital technology also has a role to play together with other channels to market, ensuring that consumers have a choice of how advice is delivered to them,” he said.
