Confidence among financial advisers has dipped significantly, with 50% admitting they had considered quitting, selling their business or joining a larger group, according to research from Acquisitions, Mergers and Sales Limited (AMAS).
Phil Calvert, director of AMAS, said: ‘We knew that many IFAs were unhappy about the state of the industry, but we were very surprised to discover just how many had considered selling up or joining forces with a larger firm.’
The specialist acquisitions and sales firm also discovered that while 48% are feeling less confident about their business prospects than they did a year ago, only 23% said they were more confident.
The research claimed that anxiety over the CP121 proposals and possible over-regulation had made the situation worse.
Although the Financial Services Authority has now announced plans to remove polarisation, David Bitner, mortgage technical manager at The MarketPlace, did not think that this would necessarily result in confidence levels become more buoyant.
Bitner said: ‘I would say that, across the board, if there is the option of retiring or exploring new options, take it. This could have the effect of being more beneficial to those who stay and they could eventually become more prosperous.’
