The research asked the public who they turned to for advice on retirement planning, and for the third year in a row financial advisers were found to be the most trusted source, ahead of friends and family.
Lead author of the report and Defaqto's Wealth Management Consultant, Matt Ward, stated: "This result is positive news indeed for the IFA sector and, given the improvements to professionalism encouraged by the FSA's Retail Distribution Review (RDR) roadmap, ensures that consumers will be able to continue to rely on IFAs as a trusted source of advice for retirement planning."
Defaqto's research also asked members of the public to confirm whether or not they had sought advice on planning for their retirement, but consistent with last year's findings only one-quarter of consumers had done so (24%).
Ward added: "A core aim of the RDR is to make financial advice more accessible to a wider range of consumers. The acid test will therefore be to see whether consumer engagement with the advice sources made available by RDR increases. This will only be achieved if the industry can meet the challenge of delivering innovative advice solutions through the guided sales and money guidance channels."
