One in 10 adults (11%) in the UK have said they don’t trust financial advisers, with one in five (21%) stating that they would not seek financial advice, even if it was free, Canada Life has found.

In a partnership with financial services consultancy, AKG, the firms have delivered a new report, State of Flux, which considers the factors that shape the current financial advice market, and the potential challenges and opportunities that may be posed for the future industry.

The report proposed that the advice gap could widen before there is any chance of it closing.

Canada Life found that less than half (45%) of UK adults have seen a financial adviser, with almost a quarter (23%) stating that they would not be swayed into getting financial advice no matter the circumstances, and even assuming the advice was free.

Furthermore, over one in five (21%) who are not engaged with advice, said they believe they don’t’ have enough wealth to warrant seeing an adviser. Other reasons are linked to the perception of financial advice, with one in 10 (11%) ‘not trusting financial advisers’ and 9% ‘being afraid of pushy sales techniques’.

However, Canada Life and AKG have said that on a more positive note, those that see an adviser on an ongoing basis attach a great deal of value to their relationship. The factors expressed include access to someone human who understands the financial situation (19%), peace of mind of over financial decisions (19%) and the knowledge that advisers are regulated (18%).

As part of the survey, 12% of respondents said they regret not seeing a financial adviser in the past, with the top three regrets being that they now worry that they don’t have enough money to fund retirement (25%), they underestimated the impact of inflation (31%) and losing money (27%).

Managing director of retirement at Canada Life, Tom Evans, said: "Closing the advice gap is clearly not a straightforward issue. In fact, we should be honest with ourselves and recognise there will always be an advice gap borne from people’s lack of willingness to engage, and advisers’ capacity to service. But that shouldn’t mean as an industry we don’t try to do a better job of communicating and marketing both the benefits and value of financial advice.

"Clearly trust or a lack of it, is still a factor that continues to plague the advice market. The fact that one in five people would not see an adviser even if it was free, is quite shocking.

"Why would a customer seek mortgage advice but be confident enough to choose the right path to retirement without advice? We need to be bold and challenge the current status quo, while also recognising that to serve a wider customer group, we need to embrace technology alongside attracting more advisers into the profession."

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