Aviva's survey says that 28 per cent of advisers have seen an increase in active clients post RDR and 72 per cent say clients are positive or neutral about adviser charging.
According to the research, adviser are still willing to service clients with relatively modest assets despite predictions that advisers would shun smaller clients. Aviva says that a majority of advisers are willing to service clients with less than £50,000 assets.
In other findings, 63 per cent of advisers taking advantage of growth in "at retirement" market but regulatory fees and profitability are still the biggest concerns for advisers overall.
Aviva says that its survey found that advisers are broadly positive about the implementation of the Retail Distribution Review (RDR) compared to a year ago, according to the latest Adviser Barometer from Aviva.
More than half of advisers (55 per cent) report no significant change in the number of active clients they are servicing post RDR, with a further 28 per cent seeing an increase in their active client base. Most (52 per cent) of these say this is largely due to new clients looking for advice for the first time, as well as taking on former clients of IFAs who have exited the market (29 per cent).
Three out of five advisers (59 per cent) have adopted a combined charging structure of initial investment and assets under management – typically 3 per cent initial interest and 0.5 per cent on-going annual charge - but clients have not been deterred by this move. Almost three quarters (72 per cent) of advisers say that their clients' reaction to adviser charging has been broadly positive or neutral, up from 65 per cent in March 2013.
Encouragingly, almost two thirds (62 per cent) of advisers claim not to have lost any clients as a result of adviser charging, and a further 28 per cent report only a very small loss. 
There have been marginal changes in the type of advice model an adviser chooses to operate – 83 per cent have assumed an independent model (84 per cent Mar 2013) and while gaining some traction, there is still a relatively small number (13 per cent compared to 10 per cent Mar 2013) opting to offer restricted advice. Almost all advisers (94 per cent) are satisfied with their choices, having no plans to change their model in the next 12 months. This figure is up from 84 per cent in March 2013.
Most of the adviser community (46 per cent) continues to service clients with less than £50,000 investible assets; only one in five (19 per cent) require clients to have a minimum of £50,000 for them to provide pension and investment advice. However, although profitability is still a major concern, some firms (36 per cent) have not set any minimum investment levels, leaving them with a number of smaller clients to manage.
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When asked what they do to service their smaller clients, two in five (38 per cent) say they tailor their service depending on their clients' needs and willingness to pay, but worryingly one in five admits to servicing clients at a loss (22 per cent) and a similar number (22 per cent) have not yet decided how to deal with them.
The number of platforms used by advisers has also increased over the last 12 months, with 69 per cent of advisers using two or more platforms (61 per cent Mar 2013); half are actively using only two or three on a regular basis. Of those using platforms, half place more than 61 per cent of their new business through the technology – up from just 17 per cent in October, 2010. One in six advisers do not use platforms at all.
Despite all these positive signs and a general increase in economic optimism, advisers still worry about how much income they will be able to retain as profit (48 per cent), albeit this concern has fallen (down from 52 per cent, Mar 2013). Growing concerns include regulatory fees and levies (48 per cent) up from 44 per cent, and legacy commission (44 per cent) up from 36 per cent.
Advisers are not taking these challenges lightly – they continue to explore strategies to protect their profitability, including pursuing the growth in the "At Retirement" market (63 per cent), with an increasing number of consumers now shopping around for higher annuity rates. Other opportunities arise from orphaned clients (34 per cent) and low interest rates (32 per cent), increasing the need for fresh financial reviews.
Andy Beswick, intermediary director at Aviva, said: "There is a sense of emerging stability from our latest barometer findings. Advisers seem to be more optimistic about the reality of RDR compared to their predictions a year ago. Naturally some advisers have left the market, but this has presented those remaining in business with more opportunities."