Financial adviser delegates have identified the biggest threats to their businesses as being large product providers going direct to clients and robo advice.

They were highlighted by a poll carried out at the recent Intelliflo Change the Game conferences held in Manchester and London.

The question ‘What is the biggest threat to your business today?’ has been asked at three consecutive Change the Game conferences.

The top two have consistently been ‘robo advice’ and ‘large product providers going direct’.

This year these options gained equal top share in the poll - 37% each of 315 respondents.

Other options included:

General image of IFAs - 14% - down from 29% in 2015)

Other financial advisers’ (7%)

‘Banks/building societies’ (4%).

Nick Eatock, Intelliflo’s executive chairman said: “Undoubtedly the increase in D2C robo advisers and the publicity surrounding them is having an impact and many advisers are waking up to the threats and opportunities offered by the digital route to business.

“We are seeing a marked increase in take-up for our automated advice service, with progressive advisers keen to offer this option where full fat advice is not economically appropriate for certain clients.”

The conferences, held in Manchester on 13 June and in London on 20 June, were attended by over 750 financial advisers, Paraplanners and product providers and featured a keynote presentation by Graeme Codrington from TomorrowToday, an authority on the future world of work.

During the morning session delegates at both conferences were also asked: ‘How much time do you spend thinking about the digital challenges of the future for your business?’

Of the 270 respondents, one in five (21%) said they spend a lot of time, with just over a third (39%) spending a ‘fair bit of time’ and around a third (34%) spending ‘some time’. Only 6% said they spend ‘very little time’.