IFAs considered most trusted external source of advice for active investors

Over three-quarters (77%) of the 1,000 people polled aged 36+ with £50,000 or more to invest claimed that they trusted their own judgement the most when making investment decisions, while 72% said the same about advice provided by an IFA.

This was more than double the number of respondents (35%) who said that they trusted a stockbroker to make investment decisions on their behalf.

Another major finding from the survey by the property finance professionals revealed that robo-advice companies and firms which offered software-based investment management tools have yet to win the faith of more experienced – or higher-net-worth – investors.

Only one in 10 active investors (12%) said they would trust a robo-adviser to make an investment decision on their behalf, while 22% said they would trust a standalone piece of software.

Three in five investors (60%) claimed they would make an investment based on advice from family and friends.

The full results of the survey:

Chart supplied by Minerva Lending PLC

“IFAs should be genuinely encouraged that nearly three-quarters of active investors would trust them to make investment decisions on their behalf,” said Ross Andrews, director at Minerva Lending PLC (pictured above).

“For robo-advisers and software-based investment management tools, the survey results are less uplifting.

“It seems that far more people with bigger sums to invest trust manual decision-making processes, whether by themselves or an IFA.”