18 June 2008

Financial advice must be made more accessible to the wider population, says Zurich, particularly in light of the credit crunch, which “will have a lasting legacy for the future generations”.

According to research commissioned by Zurich, presented at the Living Britain event on 18 June, 57 per cent of Britons have never sought guidance from a financial adviser. Half of those respondents blame this on not having enough disposable income and one fifth say this is because it is too expensive. The study also looked into people’s thoughts on the current economic climate. Zurich found that 36 per cent did not believe the credit crunch will affect them and one fifth of people (21 per cent) said that the term ‘credit crunch’ had been invented by the media.

Tony Solomon, business development director at Zurich, explained: “In this type of environment, I think it is good advice for everyone to review what they’re doing financially, so they take as much control as they can of their financial futures when inflation is beginning to bite.”

“Ultimately, we are in for a long period of uncertainty,” continued Solomon, “and people will be more and more concerned about the future. But I guess it is at this point that we really should start thinking about planning, so that we can have a future.”

Solomon pointed to improving accessibility to financial advice as one the issues to be addressed in the Retail Distribution Review (RDR).

“I believe we’ve got a job as an industry to really promote the need for people to take control of their financial futures, but at the same time, the Regulator has got to recognise that people won’t act on their own steam having read some information; they need somebody to sit down with them and guide them into action.”

- Pensions Age June 2008