Adviser trust surges back to 2014 levels, signalling new era of renewed confidence

The level of trust in Australian financial planners has bounced back to its pre-Hayne levels, new research from CoreData has revealed.

In 2014, advisers were rated 5.5 on the trust scale, which then took a major hit in 2017 during the royal commission when trust levels fell to nearly 3 out of 10.

Several advisers previously described to ifa’s sister brand, Money Management, how they felt “shamed”, “lonely” and “saw their confidence dented” by the negative press and commentary surrounding the industry at the time.

However, consumer trust levels in advisers have been on a slow upwards trajectory following the transformative event and have now returned to approximately 5.5 on the trust scale in 2024, CoreData found, nearly seven years after the royal commission.

“Trust in financial planners has recovered after a big bounce this half. It will be interesting to see if the industry will capitalise on the returned love in the coming golden age of advice,” said Andrew Inwood, founder and principal of CoreData.

Speaking to Money Management, Striver founder and CEO Alisdair Barr said he believes the strong trust and optimism within the advice profession currently are critical to attracting new talent.

“I feel like the profession is really exciting and there’s some great movement going on in the licensee land and the super funds are evolving. The confidence in [advice] businesses is doing really well and that makes it easier for us to shine a light on advice as a career path. I think [the industry] is as positive as it’s been for a long time,” he said.

In particular, major announcements such as AMP’s decision to sell off its advice licensees to create a new entity with Entireti is creating positive buzz in the profession, Barr said.

“When you see a profession that’s got a lot of good news stories, a lot of interest, a lot of capital injected into it – that can only make it a better place for people to set up careers. Having structured [career pathways] and strong capital and some really positive news in the press, I think just makes it an easier and better place to promote careers in,” the founder said.

Last month, research firm Wealth Insights reported that 62 per cent of advisers described current conditions in 2024 as “good” or “very good”. In comparison, this figure was at 55 per cent a decade ago, in 2014.

This is its highest level of positive sentiment towards the profession since 2017, with sentiment declining following the royal commission in 2018 and the subsequent fallout from its findings.