Consumers are looking to other retail industries for inspiration to give them more confidence in buying financial products, according to research from AEGON.

In a one and a half day workshop, AEGON asked consumers how they felt about financial planning and, starting with a clean sheet of paper, asked them to design their ideal financial adviser or advice solution.  Based on their suggestions AEGON identified and tested five advice concepts.

• Financial guru – an independent expert giving high quality, ongoing, personalised financial advice, separate from product selling
• Life coach – to get people started with financial planning and keep them motivated, a ‘financial weight watchers’
• Personal shopper – to simplify the choice available and provide products to suit the customer’s needs
• Drop-in centre – an initial problem-solving service for people with financial problems or specific needs
• Financial superstore – to make buying easier for people with straightforward needs or who know exactly what they want.  Could also be used as a first port of call to get information on products and services

The research suggests consumers are looking for different advice solutions to meet the needs of different consumers at different times. AEGON believes this is particularly relevant as the FSA’s Retail Distribution Review looks at broadening access to advice which could introduce new types of adviser in the future.  The research also showed that many elements of what people want already exist but aren’t recognised as being available in the current advice market.  Consumers want an ongoing relationship with an adviser giving impartial, holistic advice but don’t believe they can get this now.  This suggests the long term savings industry could do more to present the best of the current market’s propositions to have a broader consumer appeal.

Francis McGee, head of corporate affairs, comments

“We’re all being encouraged to take more responsibility for our financial future but millions of people still either don’t have access to affordable financial advice or trust what’s currently available.  To find out why, we carried out this research with a view that any solution must start with giving people what they want, how and where they want it.  People are telling us they lack confidence in tackling their finances, motivation in sticking to plans and trust in the advice market.  They want independent, ongoing help and guidance to make financial decisions but don’t believe it exists in the current market. 

“As a result people borrowed ideas from other areas where they seek help making decisions or taking control over aspects of their lives and adapted them to the financial services arena.  People looked to concepts such as slimming clubs and personal trainers where they get help and discipline with fitness issues and wanted to apply these ideas to their personal finances.”

Notes to Editors

Financial Guru
A ‘top of the range’ financial adviser - an expert who has an ongoing relationship to look after all your financial needs and give impartial advice tailored to your personal circumstances at a time and place to suit you.  The financial guru gives advice rather than selling products and is accountable if things go wrong.

Life Coach
Someone to get you started with financial planning and motivate you to keep going, a financial equivalent of Weight Watchers.  Coaching could be given in a group setting to provide additional peer group support. Empowers people to take action and equips them to have more control over their financial affairs.

Personal Shopper
A service to simplify choice for the more confident, informed consumers or those with specific financial requirements.  A personal, rather than web-based, service searching the market to find products and solutions to suit the customer’s specific needs.

Drop-in Centre
An independent, locally accessible service, provided free by government or the third sector, to give initial help in a financial crisis and give financial MOTs. 

Financial Superstore
To make buying of simple financial products easier for people with straightforward needs or who know what products they want to buy.  With clear product labelling and easy to choose products people also thought it would be a useful first port of call or ‘window shopping’ for people researching the market.

• AEGON used a ‘deliberative’ research method to obtain the views of 82 consumers on their ideal adviser.  In a 1.5 day workshop people were encouraged to discuss their attitudes to financial planning and given a ‘blank sheet of paper’ to design an advice solution they would have confidence and trust in and that would encourage them to start and keep going with their financial planning.  Participants were in the £20-50k earnings bracket, selected to represent a cross section of the population.  From these initial findings AEGON identified five advice concepts and tested these in a further workshop with 17 people from the initial wave of research.
• AEGON is one of the first companies to undertake this type of consumer research testing the consumer perspective to find out what will best meet their advice needs.  The FSA believes this is important and AEGON’s research was summarised in the Retail Distribution Review discussion paper and cited as being an alternative approach to simply asking consumers to answer defined questions.
• The FSA published a discussion paper, ‘A Review of Retail Distribution’, in June 2007.  The discussion paper is the first stage in a review that aims to build consumer trust and confidence in the retail investment products consumers buy and the advice they take.  One of the problems with the current market, identified by the FSA, is that many consumers can’t afford full financial advice or find an adviser willing to advise them.  To address this, the discussion paper proposes creating three channels of regulated advice – Professional Financial Planners, General Financial Advisers and Primary Advisers. Further information on the review can be found at www.fsa.gov.uk
• AEGON is one of the world’s largest insurers with assets under management of £245 billion.  AEGON UK has assets under administration of £49.8 billion.  In the UK we offer pensions, life insurance, asset management and advice businesses.

For further information

Margaret Robertson
PR Manager
T. 0131 549 6798 | M. 07740 897527
margaret.robertson @aegon.co.uk

Francis McGee
Head of Corporate Affairs 
T. 0207 599 2275
Francis.McGee@aegon.co.uk