Some 62% of advised clients have never switched financial adviser, according to a major survey by wealth manager St James’s Place.

Older clients were the least likely to change adviser, with 74% of those aged 55 and over never switching adviser.

Three-quarters of those aged 35-54 (72%) had never switched adviser.

While the figures suggest that the majority of people stay with their adviser, just under four in 10 have changed adviser or ceased to use an adviser.

The survey also suggests that those currently using a professional adviser show strong loyalty and support for their existing adviser, with some 86% happy to recommend getting advice to family and friends.

The survey of 12,000 adults found that a typical relationship with an adviser lasts seven years, rising to over a decade among the over-55s.

St James’s Place (SJP) reveals says the majority of people staying with their adviser highlighted "the power of longstanding advice relationships.”

The survey results are part of SJP’s Real Life Advice Report, examining relationship between a client and their financial adviser and the impact this can have.

According to the study, the main reasons people gave for never switching adviser were:

• Trusting their adviser (39%)
• Being happy with the advice and financial returns their adviser has delivered (35%)
• Their adviser understanding their financial situation (34%)
• Having a good relationship with their adviser which has been built over several years (33%)
• Their adviser understanding their long-term goals and helping to deliver them (29%)
• Their adviser looking after both them and their family (21%)
• Their adviser having helped them through big life stages/ moments (18%)   

Andy Payne, head of the St James’s Place Financial Advice Academy, said: “Financial advice is about much more than numbers on a page or graphs on a screen. It’s about building deep, meaningful relationships, and as our research shows these can last many years and span generations. Whether you’re navigating the early stages of wealth creation, planning for retirement, or managing an unexpected life change, having a trusted adviser by your side can make all the difference.”

The study also looked at benefits of ongoing financial advice. Some 32% of adults said financial advice had helped them to save more money for retirement and 22% said it ensured they have adequate protection in place.

Ongoing financial advice has also helped more than 10% with major life goals or moments, such as getting on the property ladder (13%) or navigating difficult periods like divorce or bereavement (13%).

Others said they had been able to plan to pass on money to their children or loved ones (19%), to better manage the cost of raising children (12%), or provide more financial support to elderly family members (11%).

Other benefits of long term financial advice had included giving them more flexibility in their job (16%), affording larger purchases such as a car (13%) and realising a dream of a new home (9%).

Some 10% had used ongoing financial advice to start their own business, while 8% found support in starting or expanding their families, including through IVF and adoption.

• Opinium surveyed just under 12,000 UK adults between May and August 2024. Quotas and post-weighting were applied to the sample to make the dataset representative of the UK adult population.