The survey, which questioned 206 UK-based financial advisers, found that 60% of IFAs have turned away a potential client in the last month.
Yet despite advisers having to, for various reasons, turn clients away, more than half of those polled expected the number of IFAs operating in the UK to fall by 5% or more this year.
Expanding client base
The research also revealed that a growing number of clients are now coming from the professional services sector, including accountants and solicitors – with 11% of advisers admitting that referrals from this group are the biggest contributor to their new business pipeline.
Four in 10 advisers expect to see referrals from the professional services sector increase over the next 12 months.
Quality of services attracting repeat customers
Meanwhile, 68% of those surveyed say the quality of the service they provide to existing clients is the biggest driver of new business for advisers.
Paul Harrison, head of Prudential’s business consultancy for advisers, said: “What stands out is that the quality of the service and value added by advisers is increasingly a new business referral tool in itself.
“Although demand for advice has exceeded supply, the advice community has reacted strongly to increase capacity by streamlining and improving their service proposition.
“The past few years have been a period of sustained change for advisers so it is worth remembering and re-stating the real value of what advisers do for their customers.”
‘Uneconomical’ advice
In March 2015, the Association of Professional Financial Advisers (APFA) revealed that 42% of financial advisers turned away clients on the grounds of affordability, citing that the advice services they offered were not economical – up 37% on the year before.
Those seeking pension advice were the most likely to be rejected.
