The number of advisers has gone down from more than 40,000 in 2011 to 30,000 in October 2014, with most of the fall seen in banks.
Mr Cowley says: “Advice has become a preserve of the wealthy.
“However, there is scope for the introduction of technology into financial advice which I would expect to improve the situation.
“Client outcomes have become more of a focus of advice, improving trust and forging better relationships between advisers and their clients.”
He continues: “But access to advice is probably the most fundamental consideration facing the industry with a good deal of the population being disenfranchised from financial advice due to the cost.
“This is due to the higher level of professional standards and regulatory obligations that firms must satisfy in order to provide suitable advice.”
He adds: “Another major consideration is the ongoing issue with ‘phoenix’ firms, where failed advice firms reinvent themselves as claims management companies.”
Similarly, Kay Ingram, director of public policy, LEBC Group, says: “RDR has been a success in raising standards of advice.
“The challenge now for advisers is to make the value-for-money case for advice, which is paid for by the consumer… to make advice more affordable and more accessible.”
She continues: “The development of digital channels for the exchange of information, artificial intelligence to perform analysis, and human intelligence to communicate and motivate the consumer is the future of financial advice.
“We hope that more firms will join us in adopting new ways of working and that the FCA review will give advice firms the time and space to fill the advice gap this way.”
What are clients looking for?
Recent research by EY found 44 per cent of the UK clients surveyed were looking to move assets to other wealth providers over the next three years.
The survey was conducted by EY and ESI ThoughtLab with 2,000 wealth management clients across 26 countries, and included insights from 50 different wealth management executives, in the third quarter of 2018.
For some questions clients could choose more than one option: when asked which platforms and services they would choose, 95 per cent said a fintech, followed by an independent advice company chosen by 32 per cent.
The research also showed UK clients have poor awareness levels of trading and product fees, with only 49 per cent of clients fully aware of all the fees they are paying, and 23 per cent said they would switch provider if they offered more transparent pricing and performance results.
In its report, EY concluded that with customers increasingly looking to shop around, companies need to ensure they are offering a service that is holistic and tech-enabled, but still personalised, and ensure there fees are clear and set up as consumers want.
