Hardly any IFAs would recommend crypto investments
93 per cent of independent financial advisers (IFAs) would never consider recommending crypto currencies to their clients, despite the fact that a third of advisers have seen an increase in crypto enquiries this year.
A further 95 per cent of IFAs said that they would never recommend meme stocks, while 91 per cent said that they would be concerned if a client said they were already investing in either crypto currencies or meme stocks.
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According to a new survey from Opinium, the responses were the same across IFAs who advise clients of all portfolio sizes, although advisers were more likely to be worried about those clients with a larger investment portfolio.
84 per cent of IFAs with clients with portfolios under £100,000 would be concerned if a client was investing in cryptocurrencies, compared with 90 per cent of those who had clients with portfolios between £101,000 to £200,000, and 95 per cent with client portfolios worth more than £200,000.
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“With the recent crypto and meme stock frenzy, it’s no surprise that advisers are seeing an increasing interest in these vehicles from investors,” said Alexa Nightingale, research director at Opinium.
“There is clearly uncertainty and concern in the industry, and advisors with clients of all sizes would be wary if their clients were investing in these products. However, these sorts of investments are becoming more mainstream, so it will be interesting to see how advisers navigate this in future.”
33 per cent of IFAs said that they believe cryptocurrencies will become a legitimate investment vehicle in the future, with 24 per cent thinking the same about meme stocks.
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