Global economic uncertainty is fuelling significant growth in demand for financial advice from worried clients, according to a survey of nearly 200 UK financial advisers.

FCA CEO Nikhil Rathi has pledged to “revolutionise financial advice” as part of a package of reforms to break down the barriers to business growth in financial services.

More than one in four pension savers (28%) nearing retirement say they have seen a financial adviser or wealth manager in the past or do so currently, according to new research.

I suspect many in the regulatory community never expected to be readying to throw some of their carefully-crafted rules on a bonfire of red tape to boost business growth, but that’s exactly what they are being asked to do by the government which this week stepped up its efforts to demand regulatory reform to promote business expansion.

I’ve always believed that we should look after the wealth creators; the entrepreneurs, the business starters, the self employed, the pioneers, the creative people who spot a market opportunity, the professionals who launch new services and start-ups.

FCA bashing is something of a sport in the trade press, and we’ve certainly levelled criticism at the regulator ourselves, so it was pleasing this week to have a good reason to portray the FCA as the hero rather than the villain.

There was a welcome pledge from the FCA this week that it would strive to speed up enforcement action in future, despite the challenges. This is promising but I suspect it will be harder to achieve than they expect.

While we wait for the Budget and its threatened changes to pensions taxation with bated breath, it’s worth remembering that the public is beginning to accept that retirement, while not yet extinct as a notion, is not quite what it was.

I’m prompted to ask the question posed in the headline after reading several recent surveys suggesting that, given a choice, most people do their very best to avoid taking financial advice.

A major new consumer financial survey has revealed that 24.6m people in the UK have never taken financial advice or guidance with 11m saying ‘perceived barriers’ deter them from seeking advice.