A major survey of financial advisers has revealed that nearly six out of 10 report that acquiring new clients has been “significantly harder” during the pandemic.

Despite the challenges many advisory firms report that turnover has been “static or better” during the pandemic and many have coped well with remote working.

The findings are from consultancy lang cat’s third State Of The Adviser Nation research report which will be released in early December.

The lang cat questioned 565 professionals working in the advice sector in October in a survey which shows the “tremendous resilience” of the sector, the lang cat says.

Ahead of the report being published the lang cat has released some Covid-related finding.

Key findings include:

•            89% of respondents say serving existing clients and conducting reviews remotely has been largely positive and that they’ll be doing more online client work in the future

•            58% say that acquiring new clients has been significantly harder during the pandemic

•            49% believe the platform sector responded well to the pandemic

Mark Polson, principal of the lang cat, said: “The intermediated retail advice sector has proved to be incredibly resilient over the past year.

“While this doesn’t surprise us in the slightest, the fact that advice firms predict their turnover will be static or better, is a remarkable state of affairs considering how other sectors have fared through the pandemic.

“Their ability to quickly change processes in-flight and just get on with things for the benefit of their clients should be applauded. If you were an investor and looking for a sector that would stand firm in the face of relentless challenge, then advice is where you’d be looking.”