Bad financial advice discouraging investors
Monday, 13 February 2006 12:00
More than two Britons in five have received bad financial advice, with a quarter of these never being compensated for it.
But despite high-profile pension and mortgage scandals rocking the UK's financial services industry in recent years, a large amount of the bad financial advice received by UK residents comes from friends and families rather than professionals.
"Our research shows that 43 per cent of people who have taken financial advice in the past think it was bad advice," said Adam Taylor, spokesman for invest06, which is behind the research.
"Although we must stress that the market has 'cleaned up its act' after the pensions miss-selling debacle of the 90s, it does go some way to explaining why so many people in the UK are putting off their financial future."
The number of Britons who have not been compensated for the bad advice they received was also seen as a cause of concern.
"With so many 'financial victims' out there, there's little surprise that people are wary of making financial decisions," Mr Taylor noted.
But while many people have received bad advice, another large minority have received no advice at all.
The research reveals that one UK resident in four has never received financial advice, with this figure rising to one in three in London.
As well as not receiving advice, almost one person in three does not know where they would turn for an opinion on their finances.
"It appears that people will go to the wrong people for investment advice or take no advice at all," invest06's Mr Taylor said.
The invest06 exhibition takes place at the Business Design Centre, London on February 17th and 18th.
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