Enhancing Financial Advisor Services: Bridging the Planning Gap for Canadians and Their Advisors
Every year, J.D. Power Canada conducts a comprehensive Full-Service Investor Satisfaction Study, releasing its findings to help financial firms gain insights into their clients’ needs and improve their service offerings.
In the 2022 Study, one statistic caught my attention. While 40% of investors reported receiving comprehensive advice from their financial advisors, a closer examination revealed that only 7% of these investors actually received all the essential elements of comprehensive advice, as outlined by J.D. Power’s criteria. This holistic advice includes making recommendations aligned with an investor’s best interests, understanding their goals and needs, and having a documented financial plan.
Beyond the disparity between the number of investors who claim to receive comprehensive advice and the reality, what truly stands out is the immense opportunity that effective planning holds for advisors. This opportunity is multi-fold:
- Driving Growth through Referrals: Investors who consistently receive comprehensive advice are more likely to provide referrals, thereby contributing to an advisor’s business growth.
- Fostering Trust and Retention: Comprehensive advice instills brand trust and enhances client retention, especially in times of uncertain portfolio performance.
- Unveiling Opportunities: Planning not only benefits clients but also advisors, as it uncovers opportunities and positions solutions that foster business growth.
The key takeaways from the 2023 study underscore the ongoing struggle of the Canadian financial advisory industry to deliver comprehensive planning to investors:
- Only 6% of Canadian investors are receiving a truly comprehensive level of service and advice from their wealth management professionals.
- Investors who are fortunate enough to receive comprehensive advice are more than three times as likely to recommend their financial advisor to friends or family, compared to those who receive transactional advice.
- A mere 57% of full-service wealth management clients claim to have a financial plan. Out of this group, a significant 43% do not believe their advisor’s recommendations are aligned with their best interests.
- Intriguingly, 38% of investors who claim to have a financial plan do not believe their advisor truly understands their financial goals and needs.
Planworth is dedicated to simplifying the delivery of planning services to clients and enhancing advisors’ ability to identify opportunities and tailor experiences. By achieving these goals, Planworth contributes to enhancing advisors’ overall book of business.
For those interested, you can find the complete press release of J.D. Power’s 2022 Full-Service Investor Satisfaction Study here. The 2023 study can be accessed here.
Should you have any inquiries regarding Planworth’s approach to comprehensive planning, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at connect@planworth.co. Your questions and feedback are valuable to us.