It’s always been a question on my mind as to the reasons why consumers opt to see a financial adviser.

What are the factors that spur consumers to see an adviser and what are the 'reasons to be cheerful' after seeing an adviser?

The obvious primary reason to see an adviser is to get good, professional, impartial advice but there is clearly more to it than that, according to a new study we covered this week.

One of the key reasons to see a financial adviser, according to the survey by Hymans Robertson, was ‘peace of mind’ and that’s no surprise but what does this actually mean?

Before I delve into this it's worth remembering that the survey only covered well off clients with over £300,000 invested. Even so its findings have wider implications.

The question is: do clients get home from a meeting with their planner or adviser, sit down in a comfy armchair and breathe a huge sigh of relief that they have seen an expert and resolved all their questions and issues with money. Or is it more complex than that? I suspect it is.

Peace of mind could also be called ’sleeping soundly at night’, feeling reassured that loved ones are being looked after, that investments are appropriately positioned, that tax concerns are sorted. All sorts of things. Seeing an adviser buys some of these things.

A big question is whether financial advisers deliver true 'peace of mind.'

I suspect in the main that it is being delivered by advisers, and accounts for much of the success of financial advisers and planners, but I wonder if advisers ever contact clients after an annual review or meeting and ask the clients whether they have true peace of mind with their finances.

“Was everything covered?”, “Do you have any more questions?” “Are you completely happy with my advice?” "Do you now have peace of mind?" These are all questions that planners and adviser could ask. The best ones probably already do. Some do not.

While ‘peace of mind’ sounds like a somewhat fluffy concept it was interesting to delve deeper into the survey and find out what practical results clients also wanted.

Here the results were much more down to earth.

When they were asked about which aspects of advice investors placed most value on, two thirds of clients (66%) said that investment returns were “critical” and just over two-fifths (44%) attributed value to having their tax managed efficiently. Clients want results, not just peace of mind.

Clients will accept a period of poor returns but woe betide an adviser who delivers poor returns year after year. Even if they deliver ‘peace of mind’ that might not be enough.

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Kevin O'Donnell is editor of Financial Planning Today and has worked as a journalist and editor for over three decades.