Consumer Concept Testing of Personal Financial Services Available to Purchase

Financial services have entered a new era in which distinctions between different services have become blurred. Consumers are now faced with numerous combinations of products and services. Many professionals feel that there is a need for financial counselling services. This study uses a sample of 139 corporate employees in Canada. It reveals that “convenience” in the choice of a supplier of financial services is not as important as the supplier's expertise. The most important benefit of FCS is family protection. The benefit of a counsellor is the opportunity to gain advice on the advantages and disadvantages of available investment options. Over 50 per cent of the sample indicate they would use an FCS, yet many are unfamiliar with the concept of overall financial planning and the use of counsellors. Most would prefer their counsellor to be from the accounting profession, in the role of a “contractor” where one expert is employed but relies on the expertise and products of a network of other counsellors. Although the population used does not accurately reflect the general population, it does represent an important share of the market, and as such it does cast some doubt on certain assumptions which have often been accepted as self‐evident.