Trust. It sits at the heart of a financial broker’s business. It’s that magic ingredient that you can’t survive without, but unfortunately you can’t just go out and buy it, or even simply ask for it. It can only be earned by what you do, and by what other people say about you.
Every year, I review the very insightful Edelman Trust Barometer, an annual, highly credible review of trust that has been carried out for 25 years now and across 28 different countries. They announce the results each year at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The full results for Ireland in 2025 are available here and are well worth a look. Edelman looks at trust in each of the countries (one being Ireland) and examines trust across different sectors and industries.
Two graphs in particular caught my eye this year.
We lack optimism for the next generation
While there were several other graphs that really got my attention, this one stood out for me as a terrible indictment of the current generation – I include myself in this by the way! I always grew up full of hope that there were great times ahead, and that my parents had provided me with a great launchpad for a future that promised even better times ahead than they had enjoyed.
But that is not the case for our current younger generations, many of whom cannot see a route to ever owning a house and are stuck with fairly frugal lifestyles due to exorbitant rents and a high cost of living. Unfortunately the current trend of younger people emigrating for a fairer crack at life, as opposed to simply a yearning for travel for a year or two, shows no sign of abating. It is up to all of us to make Ireland a better place to live for the next generation, otherwise we’ll be seeing them and our grandchildren only periodically after a long airplane journey…
The low trust in financial services continues
Unfortunately this has been a consistent theme of this research, ever since I started tracking it about 15 years ago. As can be seen from the graph below, Financial Services is one of the least trusted industry sectors in Ireland – a fact we in that sector simply cannot ignore. Of course, we need to consider how broad the financial services sector is, and how every piece of bad news or investment scandal in one corner of the sector tarnishes everyone.
This is a very important finding for all financial advisers to consider. However it must be noted that the poor level of trust applies to the financial services sector as a whole, and is no way reflective specifically of financial advisers. But it underlines the challenge faced by all industry participants in building trust with potential clients.
The challenge is about appealing to all those people out there who maybe are looking to interact with the sector for the first time, or in a different way. They are sceptical of the financial services industry, and potentially this might include financial advisers. How do you appeal to people you meet for the first time, who may often be starting out with a sense of distrust and scepticism? This cannot be ignored by you, and your first task on meeting a prospective client is to face this issue head-on and start building trust…
It all starts with your client value proposition, which is a clear, concise and compelling articulation of how the factors that are important to the customer are satisfied by you.
What is your business proposition?
To start to build a positive picture, leading to confidence in your ability in the eyes of prospective clients and ultimately to building trust, it’s worth considering the lessons of Simon Sinek, the famous author of “Start with Why”. Yes you need to be able to clearly define initially what it is that you do, so that clients can see the outcomes that they can expect. You then need to be able to communicate this effectively to clients. However it is difficult as a financial adviser to stand apart from the crowd in terms of what you do, as many of you deliver similar services.
However when you can set out in an engaging way how you work with clients, now you’re starting to get somewhere. When you are able to demonstrate the processes that you use, how you deliver advice, how you will serve your clients throughout their financial lifetimes; you are now in a strong position to start building durable trusted relationships. Potential clients will take a lot of comfort from understanding what they can expect from you, and this comfort in working with you will enhance their trust.
The real magic though in building trust is when you can clearly (and of course credibly!) communicate why you do what you do. This will demonstrate your real reasons for being a financial adviser, your passion for what you do and ultimately your desires to deliver a really top quality proposition to your clients. And when you can communicate this effectively, this will build trust like nothing else.
In a future article, we will look in more detail at some of the actions you can take to help you build a trusted position in the eyes of all of your current and potential clients.