Nearly one year after the first lockdown, a new report has found that the rising demand for financial advice is greatest among younger generations, 

Financial worries about the future have hit the majority of people with 85% of respondents saying they are concerned about the next 12 months, Prudential UK’s Family Wealth Unlocked report found.

Prudential says the pandemic has spurred overall demand for financial advice from worried consumers.

The report looks at inter-generational planning and wealth transfer between advised families during the financial volatility and insecurity of the pandemic.

It found that more than half (53%) of UK adults say the financial crisis caused by Covid-19 has prompted them to seek advice from a financial adviser. 

Of these a third (33%) have already sought financial advice and 20% are planning to. 

Even of those who say they are not seeking financial advice at the moment,15% say they might in the future. 

One quarter of respondents said they were having to dig into savings for living costs. Investments losing money and lower incomes were also concerns. 

The biggest financial concerns for the next 12 months:

1. Having to use my savings to make ends meet - 23%
2. My investments losing money - 20%
3. Having a reduced income - 18%
4. Being made redundant/losing my job - 17%
5. Social care/health costs - 14%
6. Not saving any money - 13%
7. Getting into debt - 11%
8. Having to financially support my children - 11%
9. Not being able to afford to retire as planned - 10%
10. Having to ask my parents/family for financial support - 9%

Source: Prudential UK’s Family Wealth Unlocked report.

The report revealed that the need for financial advice was felt greatest among the younger generations with 74% of Millennials saying they had or were going to see an adviser and 58% for Gen Z, driven by ‘getting into financial difficulty’ and ‘wanting to start their investment journey’. 

The need for advice decreased slightly with age, the report found. 

Some 32% of Gen X people, 21% of Boomers and a quarter (24%) of the 75+ age group said the crisis specifically had driven them to seek advice. 

Vince Smith-Hughes, director of specialist business support at Prudential UK, said: “It’s been a challenging 12 months for UK adults up and down the country and this has stimulated the need for advice, be it because of pent-up cash levels, market volatility or job security. While the need for advice spans all generations, our research reveals the pandemic appears to have created a pronounced opportunity for advisers to provide advice to younger audiences. 

“While many assume cost is a barrier to advice, this does not appear to be the case in Covid-times – for any of the five generations interviewed. In fact, only 3% of the sample overall said they’d like to see an adviser but couldn’t afford to.” 

• Prudential UK’s new Family Wealth Unlocked report can be found https://www.pruadviser.co.uk/knowledge-literature/insights-hub/igp-hub/wealthunlocked/-