Financial advisers have reported a surge in worried clients contacting them with Budget-related questions on pensions taxation and wealth management, a survey has revealed.

AJ Bell, which carried out the survey, says that almost all of the 131 advisers it surveyed said they had received recent questions on pensions and wealth management from clients.

Other providers have also reported recent hesitancy from clients worried about the Budget.

Concerns have been growing that Chancellor Rachel Reeves' first Budget on 30 October may include a series of tax raising measures as she looks to plug a gap in government finances.

AJ Bell, a platform and Sipp provider, said that uncertainty around what “may or may not be announced next week” has created a “flurry of speculation.”

Adviser said that rumours of a potential flat rate of pension tax relief and changes to pensions tax-free cash have pushed people into considering their options.

Advisers reported:

• Questions about taking pension tax-free cash (33%) and increasing pension contributions (16%) were more common in response to Budget speculation
• Over a quarter (27%) of advisers had seen a rise in CGT queries, and a fifth (19%) had seen a corresponding increase in the number of clients looking to sell assets and realise gains before the Budget
• Other wealth protection measures have also become more common, with gifting (10%), moving assets to an ISA (8%) or SIPP (5%), increasing ISA subscriptions (4%) and moving unwrapped assets into investment bonds (4%) popular choices

AJ Bell is calling on the government to commit to a ‘Pensions Tax Lock’ to avoid further “damaging speculation” and give pension savers greater confidence to save and invest. The firm wants Ms Reeves to use her Budget to pledge to avoid major changes to either pension tax relief or tax-free cash.  

Rachel Vahey, head of public policy at AJ Bell, said: “Speculation and rumour have clouded any sense of optimism that Reeves and Starmer have tried to inject into the state of the country’s finances in recent weeks, and this has had a direct impact on the decisions savers and investors are making ahead of 30 October.

“Almost 100% of advisers have said they’ve seen queries and requests generated off the back of Budget speculation. But it’s hardly surprising given the high number of stories circulating on various possible reforms, filling the policy vacuum leading up to the Budget.

“The fact that a third of clients have requested to take tax-free cash, a decision which in some cases could find people in a worse financial position longer-term, should be concerning to a government who are also committed to harnessing the investment power of UK pension funds to fuel its plans for economic growth.”

She said the findings suggested that the level of uncertainty created ahead of the Budget was having “real-world consequences.”

• AJ Bell's adviser survey was based on 131 responses to an online survey carried out between 30 September and 2 October.