New research suggests that the number of people considering a career in financial advice is growing as demand for professional financial advisory staff rises.

A nationwide study towards the end of 2019 found that nearly six out of 10 adults (59%) would consider a career as a financial adviser.

This is a major increase on the 45% who said they were interested when the research was last carried out in March 2019.

The research by adviser network Openwork also found that over half of women surveyed said they would consider a career as an adviser (54%) but careers in advice remain more popular among men with 65% saying they would consider a career as an adviser.

Interest from younger people in a career in financial advice also appears to be growing. About 66% of 18-24-year olds say they would be interested in pursuing a career in advice. 

However, Openwork says the availability of training is crucial to helping people into the industry and more than a quarter of all adults surveyed (27%) and 22% of 18 to 24-year olds said that becoming an adviser was dependent on whether training support was available. 

Claire Limon, director of learning and acquisition at Openwork, said: “With the demand for advisers increasing, it is reassuring that more and more people are considering the move and that its attractiveness as a career has only grown.

“However, our research found training support is vital. We continue to invest heavily in our Academy, which has enrolled more than 400 candidates since launching in October 2014. The average age of candidates currently participating within our Academy is 34 and 38% are female.”

“In 2019 we were delighted to appoint a further 114 candidates into advice roles.”

Openwork has over 3,900 financial advisers operating across the UK and operates mainly as a restricted adviser.

• Research was conducted in March and October 2019 with just over 1,000 adults each time.