Financial planners rated low for ethics and honesty

Roy Morgan's Image of Professions 2016 survey asked people to rate 30 professions in regards to ethics and honesty as either 'Very high', 'High', 'Average', 'Low' or 'Very Low'.

It found that only 27 per cent of those surveyed rated financial planners as 'High' or 'Very high' for ethics and honesty, up 3 percentage points from a year ago.

In other finance-related occupations, accountants rated at 51 per cent (up 6 percentage points), bank managers at 30 per cent (down 4 percentage points), and stockbrokers at 14 per cent (up 2 percentage points).

Of all 30 professions surveyed, 23 increased in regards to ethics and honesty while four professions decreased and only three professions were unchanged.

Nurses rated the highest for the 22nd year in a row, with 92 per cent rating them 'High' or 'Very high' for ethics and honesty, while car salesmen rated the lowest at only 4 per cent.

The survey was conducted by telephone with 655 Australian men and women aged 14 and over.