It’s time for the biggest research event in the lang cat calendar, the fourth annual iteration of State of the Adviser Nation, the UK's largest fully-independent omnibus research into the views of the financial advice profession. Now in its fourth year, the study has grown from strength to strength from over 200 responses in its humble launch to well over 500 in 2020 and we need your help to make this year’s edition the biggest and best yet.

State of the Adviser Nation gathers the views of the advice profession on a number of key issues affecting their day to day lives. What parts of the sector drive you up the wall? Who is knocking it out the park? You’ll find questions on investment construction, the platform sector, your hopes for your business and the technology you use among many, many more themes. And in 2021 we’re placing an increased emphasis on the most important people of all – the customer. As Mark Polson, our principal, explains here the results make their way to right across the sector. It’s our way of trying to build a collective voice of what’s actually important to the advice profession and then tell anyone and everyone about it.

What won’t you find here?

This study is fully independent. No-one sponsors this, we’re not assessing particular products or services at the exclusion of others and there are absolutely no paid-for questions at all. It’s all a combination of what’s worked before, what you’re telling us is important to you and what we think is particularly interesting this year.

Who is the study open to?

Anyone who works in the financial advice profession is welcome here irrespective of your role. Everyone from owners to paraplanners to advisers to compliance and administration – everyone brings a unique perspective to what makes them tick and what gets them ticked off with the sector. And the size of your firm doesn’t matter either. From national firms to sole traders and everything in-between, all views are vital.

What do I get back?

We like to think we do research differently at the lang cat. You’ll be used to being asked for your views in the sector, with results often abstracted and hidden away in the background. It’s different here. It’s our biggest study of the year and should take around half an hour to complete and that means you should all get something meaningful in return. Each participant will get a full, high-quality playback of the research results before anyone else sees them. You’ll also be invited to an exclusive session with the team where you’ll be able to fire questions at us and share any further views with the rest of the profession.

What do I do now? 

Take the survey! Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts with us, we really do appreciate it.