More than half (51%) of financial advisers say working remotely with clients has been their biggest personal challenge in adapting to the Coronavirus pandemic.

According to platform FundsNetwork’s IFA DNA research, in conjunction with NextWealth, while many firms moved swiftly to remote working this has often come with signification disruption.

Three in 10 advisers (29%) say the lack of face-to-face contact with clients had the most significant impact on their working arrangements at the height of the crisis.

Some 30% experienced difficulties because of their reliance on paper-based documents.

The survey of 100 advisers found that many adapted quickly to new ways of working during lockdown, increasing their usage of digital tools and remote working, via online and telephone.

Advisers say they envisage retaining many of these changes after restrictions are lifted.

Face-to-face fact-finding will almost halve from 87% to 47% post-lockdown while online fact finding will see a five-fold increase from 7% pre-pandemic to 34% post-pandemic.

Telephone engagement will also quadruple for fact-finding post-pandemic, while goal setting will see an increase of almost six times, the survey found.

Working practices pre-COVID-19

Significant shift in the expected working practices post relaxation of lockdown rules

Source: Fidelity FundsNetwork commissioned NextWealth to research 100 advisers, May 2020

Jackie Boylan, head of FundsNetwork, said: “The Covid-19 lockdown measures introduced in the UK in March 2020 required advisers to change their ways of working almost overnight. Advisers and their clients adapted quickly. Conversations and client engagement which might previously have taken place face-to-face were replaced by video and telephone calls - in the middle of some of the most extreme market volatility we’ve seen for years.

“As the weeks turned into months in lockdown, and without a clear timeline for when restrictions will be relaxed for advisory firms, advisers have taken a progressive view on what working life will look like in the future and recognise the opportunities embracing digital ways of client engagement can offer.

Heather Hopkins of NextWealth, added: "The research reveals that advisers who adapted to meet clients through online video meetings are much more likely to see this as a lasting change to their business post-pandemic than those that are meeting with clients by phone. Advisers that have shifted to phone are more likely to plan to return to face-to-face meetings, compared to those that are meeting with clients online.”

• Further information about the IFA DNA study can be found here