- M&G Wealth and Aon publish new report which identifies the vital skills financial advisers need to meet the needs of a wider range of clients.
- Research by occupational psychologists highlights growing importance of interpersonal skills, such as emotional intelligence, empathy and engendering trust, to building deeper long-term relationships with clients.
M&G Wealth and Aon today publish a new report – ‘The Financial Advice Paradox’, identifying a shift towards the interpersonal skills needed for advisers to connect with clients on a deeper level.
Central to the report is the Adviser Future Skillset, which has been developed in consultation with Aon’s occupational psychologists who have carried out detailed job analyses, a series of interviews and workshops with senior stakeholders and focus groups with M&G Wealth Advice’s own financial advisers, to explore their experiences and challenges.
The findings highlight the growing importance of interpersonal skills, such as emotional intelligence, empathy and engendering trust, to help clients achieve financial wellbeing in a world where societal need, technology and regulation are constantly changing.
The report also finds that key to closing the advice gap is for the advice profession to continue to focus on greater representation across the industry, greater overall awareness and a deeper understanding of clients’ needs and priorities across the board to better connect with the growing number of people who need financial advice and build meaningful, long-term relationships with clients.
Ross Liston, CEO of M&G Wealth Advice, said: “We set out to explore how the adviser role has evolved in recent years to identify which behaviours and skills are key to success. This research pinpoints which skills are set to become even more critical to support client outcomes in the future and it majors on the softer skills.
“Providing financial advice is a deeply personal process and, increasingly, it centres on the ability to build trusted relationships and put each client’s unique priorities and circumstances at the root of all decisions. The advice process has evolved from focusing on talking about money to better understanding a client’s sense of financial wellbeing and giving them the peace of mind that comes with having a plan in place and a professional working for them.
“As we grow M&G Wealth Advice, these are the skills we will be helping our advisers, both experienced and new, to develop, and the Adviser Future Skillset gives a foundation for the support and training we provide to help us retain and attract the best talent.”
Katherine Conway, Head of Inclusion at Aon, added: “M&G Wealth is taking great steps to recognise and address how critical it is to bring different perspectives to their financial advice offering, ensuring they are well-placed to meet the future needs of a more diverse client base. Through investing in a tailored understanding of the skills that drive future success, they have a fantastic springboard for really impactful adviser development and hiring.”
