Seven in ten financial advisers have increased their technology budgets over the last year, according to a new report.

Over 8 in 10 (81%) said they see opportunities of greater technology adaption, according to the report from data and fintech provider FE fundinfo.

Over 7 in 10 of the 200 advisers surveyed said they increased their technology spend to aid business efficiency. Over 4 in 10 (41%) said they had introduced new technology to further support remote working.

Over a third (35%) of advisers surveyed said they introduced new technologies specifically to meet client demand.

More than half (56%) said technology has provided a smoother or simpler advice journey for their clients.

Cashflow planning tools were the most widely implemented (45%), followed by improvements to client portals (30%), risk profiling tools (24%) and investment research (23%).

The lack of integration between existing products and services was cited by 58% of advisers as the largest barrier, followed by the cost of implementation (50%), and finding the right software to complement their existing suite of technology (49%).

Oli Greenspan, adviser sales director at FE fundinfo, said: “The last couple of years presented a unique opportunity for advisers to take an active view of their tech stack. For many, it would have become fairly obvious throughout the period of remote and home working where gaps in their technology stack existed and these would have most likely been addressed throughout the course of the pandemic.

“What we can see clearly though, through the financial adviser survey is that an industry which was perhaps unfairly seen as late adopters to digitisation, is not only recognising, but seizing the opportunities presented by a growing range of hardware and software which are bringing greater efficiencies across the board.”

FE fundinfo surveyed 200 UK-based financial advisers in November and December.