Financial advice is “quite an old industry” that needs to become less "corporate" appeal to much younger clients, Capital Planning Partners wealth manager Joe Akik has argued.
Akik pointed out that there was a “huge transfer of wealth” going on across financial services at the moment, pointing out as an example that those in real estate are not seeing older people buying million pound houses anymore.
Instead, they are more likely to get people in their 20s or 30s, something which he attributed to people “making money in all sorts of weird and wonderful ways”.
“For example, I have a lot of friends that do things like SEO, Google ads, all these various freelance roles that allow them to work from anywhere,” he explained.
“They work on their own, but they don't really have anyone that understands them and I think that's a big problem.”
As an example, Akik discussed friends of his who have quite a big clothing brand who “hate anything corporate”.
“I don't know why, but they just seem to hate anything corporate so I know if I went into a meeting with them in my suit and tie they would find it ridiculous,” he explained.
“If they have an adviser who is very traditional, they won't be a good fit, and I don't think they'll understand them.”
Akik therefore suggested that the industry needs to accommodate these younger people and appeal to them
I think it means that we also kind of have to change a little bit as well, whether that's through social media or through the way we dress.
Social media
Akik also identified social media as a way advisers could appeal to younger people while also saving other consumers from the pitfalls of unauthorised advice.
“I think we've got a very big problem and I don't think it's one that many people have cottened on yet,” he explained.
“We seem to have all these money content creators that are not financial advisers yet they’re so big.
“That, to me, doesn't make sense, because people obviously want some kind of financial advice, but yet they're following all these pages on Tiktok and Instagram to try and find out what to do with their money.”
Akik attributed the rise of these kinds of finfluencers to the fact financial advisers were not visible enough.
“I think that's a really big problem, because it means people aren't getting the right advice,” he said.
While he acknowledged the FCA was clamping down on this issue, Akik maintained the industry was “not visible enough”.
“These influencers know how to capture attention on social media, but they're obviously nowhere near as skilled as advisers because, while they might know a bit about money, they don't have the qualifications,” he stated.
