Some 6 million Australians seek advice about money and investments from friends and families, Roy Morgan’s Single Source survey shows.
Of the 16 largest consumer banks, the survey found that Citibank has the highest proportion of customers (34.5 per cent) that are asked by friends or family for their financial advice, followed by ME Bank with 32.2 per cent.
Bank customers who are asked for financial advice have the potential to gain or lose customers depending on how they feel regarding their satisfaction with the relationship with their current bank, Roy Morgan said.
The highest proportion of the big four banks’ customers who are asked for advice is the ANZ with 21.2 per cent, followed by the NAB (20.4 per cent), Westpac (19.5 per cent) and CBA (17.9 per cent).
Other significant groups with a higher than average incidence of ‘trusted advisers’ include people with personal incomes of $120,000 a year or over (32.3 per cent); professionals/managers/small business owners (29.6 per cent); and those with a degree (23.4 per cent).
“This research shows that financial decisions for many have the potential to be impacted to a considerable extent by informal advice from friends and family, rather than relying on professional financial planners,” Norman Morris, industry communications director at Roy Morgan, said.
“With 3.5 million people being asked by family and friends for financial advice and 6 million asking them for advice, this network is likely to play a major role in financial decisions.”
The survey is based on in-depth interviews conducted face-to-face with over 50,000 consumers in their homes. These latest results are based on interviews conducted in the 12 months to September 2018.
