Financial Planners under the age of 45 are driving technology adoption for the profession, according to a new report.

Younger Financial Planners are more likely to work in firms that spend more on technology, are more likely to have added a new piece of technology in the past year, are less satisfied with their current technology setup, and are mor likely to be planning to introduce more technology in the next 12 months, according to the research from NextWealth.

According to the report, Financial Planners are attracted to firms spending more money on technology. Planners aged under 45 were more likely to work in firms that spend an average of £23,077 in the most recent financial year, nearly £10k more than average for all advice firms.

Over a third (36%) of Planners under 45s surveyed for the report plan to add a new piece of technology, more than double the average of 15%.

In the year to end March 2021, less than a third (28%) of respondents aged under 45 said they had not added any new technology, compared to over half (56%) of those aged over 65.

Heather Hopkins, managing director of NextWealth, said: "Firms will need to invest in their tech infrastructure and be prepared to innovate if they want to attract younger advisers to their payroll. Providers will also need to up their game as the new wave of young, tech-savvy advisers comes through."

Video conferencing solutions (33%) and hardware (31%) were the most commonly added technology tools by advice firms in the 12 months ending March 2021. This was followed by client engagement tools such as e-signatures and client portals (22%), Financial Planning software such as cashflow modelling solutions (19%), and back office systems (10%).

During the Coronavirus pandemic lockdowns, three quarters of advisers saw an increase in clients using their client-facing technology. Over a third (36%) saw a significant increase.

Only 4% of financial advisers surveyed said they do not offer client-facing technology.

Ms Hopkins said: “We found client-adoption of tech is consistent across age bands, though slightly higher among clients of younger advisers. Whether this is because younger advisers are more confident using this type of tech is speculation but could be one explanation.”

Research was carried out in March 2021 among 203 advisers.