This research comes as the Government says it will go ahead with its ‘New Class of Adviser’ (NCA) to try and solve this very issue, with solution welcomed by large financial institutions and met with scepticism by smaller providers.  

Most headlines about Australia’s economic outlook paint a grim picture: stubbornly high inflation, persistently low productivity and an international crisis that is placing more pressure on already strained budgets.  

Colonial First State’s (CFS) annual Empowered Australian Report revealed that these pressures are weighing on Australians, with 76 per cent of those surveyed saying it was their biggest financial concern.  

CFS said its findings also suggest geopolitical uncertainties are fuelling anxiety, with 69 per cent concerned about global instability and 62 per cent concerned about the state of the global economy.  

It’s against this backdrop, according to CFS, that Australians are increasingly open to receiving financial advice (at what they see as a reasonable cost, of course).  

Specifically, the research found 72 per cent of Australians who are open to financial advice would consider it if it were at a reasonable cost, up from 59 per cent.  

A further 88 per cent believe financial advice should be accessible for all Australians, up from 82 per cent in the previous survey.  

“Australians are again telling us they see value in financial advice and want it to be within reach of more people,” CFS Superannuation chief executive Kelly Power said.  

“We are encouraged by the Federal Government’s recent steps towards increasing access to financial advice. Once again, these findings reinforce the significant role financial advice plays in the confidence Australians have in their finances, and their prospects for retirement.”  

The “steps” Power is likely referring to here is the recent announcement that the Government will be going forward with the NCA regime.  

“We will proceed with the new class of adviser, limited to APRA regulated superannuation funds and life insurers, and supported by strong safeguards against vertical integration through prohibitions on commissions, bonuses and volume-based payments. We will review the scope of the New Class of Adviser in 3 years to determine how it is going and whether we should expand it further,” Financial Services Minister Dr Daniel Mulino announced in August.  

Larger financial institutions, such as those in the superannuation and life insurance sectors have broadly welcomed the announcement, saying it will allow for simple, targeted advice to be delivered at scale.  

“Australians should be able to ask their life insurer a simple question and get a simple answer,” Christine Cupitt, CALI chief executive, said.   

“The New Class of Adviser will complement the vital work of professional financial advisers by giving Australians more choice about where and how they get help with straightforward questions.”   

Many advisers have expressed apprehension about NCAs, saying information on what function they will actually serve being minimal, meaning they see little way in which it will actually help relieve economic anxieties. 

“There are pros and cons for this – I think it’s a good first step into holistic advice, and that would be the reason I would hire someone – to get experience to then move into PY, not to have as a career NCA.  There are too many people out there needing (and wanting) holistic advice and we need to help in meeting the demand that is needed,” White Rabbit Advisory adviser and founder Nicola Beswick told ifa.   

However, until advice can be made more accessible, Australians will continue to rely on alternative sources, with 36 per cent of respondents saying they are without an adviser because it is unaffordable.  

According to CFS, this has seen an increase in Australians (especially younger) access financial advice through alternative sources such as finance websites (28 per cent, up from 20 per cent), YouTube (23 per cent, up from 15 per cent) and so-called finfluencers (18 per cent, up from 11 per cent).  

In fact, more Australians trust their partner or spouse for financial information (82 per cent) than they do financial adviser (80 per cent).  

“Australians have more financial information at their fingertips than ever before, but when it comes to important financial decisions, trusted relationships still matter,” Power said.