Simplicity and trust top of the list for advice clients

Australian Retirement Trust (ART) said that according to its new research article, “Art of Science and Trust”, product advice and portfolio construction were less important to clients than being able to trust their adviser.

The research, which was launched by Ensombl, found that when measuring the value an adviser brings to a client, “acting in their best financial interest” (82 per cent) and “simplicity and trust” (67 per cent) rated higher than product advice (41 per cent) and portfolio construction (26 per cent).

ART’s acting chief of retirement, Anne Fuchs, said the resource highlighted that financial advisers need to focus on areas beyond technical skills in order to support clients both approaching and in retirement.

“As people approach or start retirement, they may not only be worried about managing their finances, but also feel apprehensive about the end of a job or career, or the thought of having more time on their hands,” said Ms Fuchs.

“Australian Retirement Trust commissioned the ‘Art of Science and Trust’ resource to give advisers a better understanding of what members are feeling as they near retirement and what they’re seeking in a financial adviser at this particularly stressful point in their life.

“The findings within the report show that it’s not enough for financial advisers to simply do what they’re hired to do – provide financial advice. Advisers also need to deliver on emotional trust, ethical trust, and functional trust to build long-term client relationships.”

According to ART, emotional trust has the greatest impact on overall trust in an adviser, accounting for 53 per cent of the trust people place in a financial adviser. This is followed by ethical trust (30 per cent) and functional trust (17 per cent).

The research also found that trust increased with age, wealth, tenure, and financial literacy. ART said this may suggest that “the more time a client spends with an adviser, the more they come to understand and appreciate the value their adviser is adding, reinforcing trust in them”.

“At Australian Retirement Trust, we genuinely believe in the power of financial advice to materially change people’s lives. We know that financial advice directly improves the financial literacy and wellbeing of members and leads to improved retirement outcomes,” Ms Fuchs added.

“The release of this resource demonstrates the value we see in working in collaboration with external financial advisers to deliver retirement outcomes to our more than 2.2 million members.”

In July, ART announced new financial advice fee caps, due to come into effect for ART Super Savings and QSuper accounts from 15 August.

“These new advice fee caps will be a key part of Australian Retirement Trust helping as many of our members as possible, including women, young people, and others with lower account balances, access and benefit from quality financial advice,” Ms Fuchs said at the time.