Increasing the diversity of advisers would make the profession “more approachable”, according to Scottish Widows retirement managing director, Emma Watkins.
Watkins explained that, in her view, the adviser community has historically been seen as a middle-aged white population.
While she believes this has changed in recent years, she advised the community should showcase how it's evolving, how it's diversifying, and how that makes it more reflective of society and, therefore, more approachable for minority groups.
Watkins recounted that she has personal experience of this as female friends have admitted to finding it “quite intimidating” to seek advice.
“They feel quite intimidated to ask questions and that might change if the adviser reflected characteristics,” she said.
“If we had more female advisers, that would definitely make the adviser population more approachable, and therefore the take up would be higher.
“We know that if you want to optimize your retirement income, it's best to do it with advice, so making sure that they are an approachable community will drive people to them.”
Adviser gaps
Watkins underlined the need for this kind of outreach by pointing out the adviser gap currently affecting groups such as the LGBTQ+ community.
“LBGTQ+ is obviously a really diverse population, and so different problems will face different parts of that community, but there are some wider differences in retirement outcomes for that population,” she explained.
“Nearly half, 48 per cent, of that population aren't on track for even a minimum lifestyle in retirement, as per the PLSA standards, and what we're seeing is there's a number of factors that might lean into that.
“For instance, 24 per cent of that population report low or unreliable income, and that's double what you see in the general UK population.
“A lot of them can't afford it because of that low or unreliable income and a lot of them can't afford to pay into their pension pot.”
Additionally, Watkins pointed out that 37 per cent of the LGBTQ+ community are even unsure how a pension works, and 23 per cent are unsure how to get financial advice.
“Even if they work out how to get financial advice, they actually admit to feeling a little intimidated,” she added.
A similar adviser gap was also found to exist among disabled savers as 48 per cent are on track for a minimal lifestyle, and 26 per cent say they will never be able to stop working, compared to a UK average of 34 per cent.
“If you've got a disability, understanding you might not be able to be fit to work forever must be a massive concern,” Watkins explained.
“Worse still, when you talk to that population about whether they're enjoying their retirement, actually, disabled retirees are twice as likely to not even be enjoying their retirement.
“Again, understanding the data, which we're starting to get our hands on now, and then understanding the interventions that we need to put in is something we're trying to push forward on.”
