About this program of research

While those receiving financial advice are often aware of its value, a lack of understanding of the value of advice for clients within the wider population and general negative sentiment towards the industry may be contributing to low levels of advice uptake globally. Add to this financial illiteracy and a complex array of financial products and services, and one begins to understand the difficult task consumers have in navigating a path to financial independence and wellbeing. More recently, the resilience of household and personal finances has been put to the test with the global financial crisis (GFC), COVID-19 and other financial schemes and scams.

This program of work sets out to explore the value of financial advice for consumers in various contexts over time. To achieve this we are:

  • Examining the existing global literature on this topic.
  • Conducting initial empirical research on the perceptions of the value of financial advice to inform the development of a conceptual framework.
  • Taking the opportunity to explore the changing nature of advice during a crisis – such as the COVID-19 pandemic – to further inform the development of the conceptual framework.
  • Working with our partners to develop a longitudinal database of financial advice information – both quantitative and qualitative – to test the value of advice framework.
  • Working with our partners to utilise the insights from the database and the above elements of the project to underpin the next decade of research on the value of financial advice in Australia, deepening our understanding of contexts and situations where the value arises from financial advice, to provide meaningful and actional insights for practitioners, business owners, policy makers, regulators and researchers.

Research Team

Professor Mark Brimble

Assoc Prof Kirsten MacDonald

Ms Ellana Loy

Mr Thomas Hendry

Higher Degrees Research Students

  • Amanda Craft
  • Ray Griffin
  • Thomas Hendry
  • Janelle Manders
  • Luke Morris
  • Rebecca Watt

Get in touch

If you're interested in participating in or sponsoring future research, or have a research enquiry, feel free to email us.