"Partnerships are becoming more important to help drive business and working with lawyers and accountants is clearly a good way for advisers to expand support"
57% of advisers are expecting an increase in leads from law firms and accountancy practices in the year ahead, however existing clients remain the best source of new business, according to the survey.
About one in six (16%) advisers believe partnerships with lawyers and accountants are the best source for new business, substantially lower than the 39% who say existing clients are the best source for work.
Prudential has been tracking the views of advisers since 2016 when it first launched its Adviser Barometer. In the 2016 study, 68% of advisers said existing clients were their biggest source of leads but that dropped to 37% in the 2017 study.
Company or network websites are seen as the best source of leads by 13% of advisers while 11% say direct marketing including social media drives the most new business.
Part of the reason for the shift to working with accountants and solicitors may be the issues advisers see as the biggest sources of business – the top two are inheritance tax protection and retirement income taxation, according to Prudential’s study.
Vince Smith-Hughes, director of specialist business support at Prudential, said: “Advisers pride themselves on delivering excellent service and support to existing clients and that is reflected in the fact clients remain the best sources of new business.
“However, partnerships are becoming more important to help drive business and working with lawyers and accountants is clearly a good way for advisers to expand support for existing clients and attract new business.
“Growth in demand for advice on inheritance tax and retirement income taxation highlight areas where advisers are likely to be working in conjunction with other professionals.”
