Our Advice Gap report is an established benchmark for assessing attitudes towards and take-up of financial advice and planning in the UK.   

Now in its sixth wave, the study blends quantitative research from both 2,000 UK individuals (in partnership with YouGov) and over 200 advice professionals on the lang cat’s advice panel. 

The Advice Gap 2024 covers several key themes, including: 

• The impact of Consumer Duty on access to advice 

• Responses to the FCA’s Advice Guidance Boundary Review from both the advice profession and consumers 

• Where does responsibility lie for addressing the advice gap? 

• The lang cat’s views on the path forward for the sector 

A snapshot of the findings 

• 9% of consumers have paid for financial advice in the past two years, down from 11% in 2023. 

• 91% of consumers who have paid for financial advice have found it helpful. 

• 55% of adviser respondents have already stopped serving clients as a result of Consumer Duty. 

• 72% of consumers aren’t aware there is a free government advice service. 

• 60% of consumers would prefer advice to be delivered face-to-face were they to seek it.  

• Asked what would need to change for you to pay for advice in future, the main factors were “I would need to be convinced advice would save me money”; “I would need to be sure I could trust the advice” and “I would need to earn more money.” 

The report is free to download thanks to our sponsors: Royal London, Quilter, abrdn and Fidelity International.  

THE WEBINAR

Natalie Holt, Mike Barrett and Steve Nelson discussed the research and main findings on our webinar. Catch up on the replay here.

Some photos from the launch event are below: