A poll of Chartered Insurance Institute and Personal Finance Society members has revealed that the biggest barrier financial professionals face when trying to help consumers was being able to openly discuss vulnerability with them.

Over a third (36%) of financial advisers polled in February said they struggled to talk about the nature of vulnerability with individual clients.

One in 10 financial advisers said they struggled to identify vulnerable clients and one in five said they worried about grasping the needs of vulnerable clients.

Being able to assess cognition was identified as the biggest barrier to assisting clients in vulnerable circumstances, mentioned by almost a third of the financial advisers surveyed.

Keith Richards, chief executive of the PFS, said: “If the profession is to be considered a safe pair of hands, we must recognise the signs of clients in vulnerable circumstances, rather than seek to label individuals as vulnerable clients. It is important that we all develop a heightened awareness of the indicators of vulnerability and have the knowledge, skills and processes in place to enable appropriate and professional safeguarding, support and advice.

“Most of us will be vulnerable at some stage in our lives. It is vitally important that financial advisers recognise the complexities and uniqueness of an individual’s vulnerability and how it impacts on them if we are to support them in the most appropriate way.”

At the start of 2021, the Personal Finance Society launched an independent Financial Vulnerability Taskforce with the aim of supporting the profession to better recognise and address the various forms of consumer vulnerability, improve client outcomes and increase access to financial advice for vulnerable people.

The CII and PFS surveyed 165 financial advisers in February.