Southampton and Fareham have been named in top 20 towns with the most financial advisers according to industry experts Citywire. The research centred around FCA regulated firms that are able to offer in-person advice.
Fareham came in 8th with 77 active firms whilst Southampton came in 19th on the list with 50 active firms.
Simon Garber, Director of Southampton-based IFA 2020 Financial Ltd says that the accessibility of financial advice is great news for the local community and economy as a whole. Especially since research by ILC-UK showed that people who receive financial advice are on average £40,000 better off than their unadvised peers.
Citywire warns that the UK has seen a growing advice gap in the Financial Advice industry with the number of Financial Advisers offering face to face advice dwindling in recent years.
As a result, many people across the UK have been left to face complex retirement planning on their own without access to appropriate advice. As people live longer they face managing their money through longer retirements with the added complexity of navigating more flexible pension arrangements since the Pension Freedoms were introduced in 2015.
Simon Garber said, “To see so many local firms still offering face-to-face financial advice is great. The most important thing for us is that advice is personalised. It has to fit the individual and that’s far more likely to happen when you are able to build a relationship with that person.”
He added, “With the growing trend towards robo-advice, individuals could be missing out on valuable information that can’t be delivered by an algorithm – understanding a person’s goals and motivations are key.”
If you’d like to talk to Simon about your retirement plans, you can schedule a free introductory call here
