Everyone should have access to advice — Anthony Morrow

There are far too many people who need and want financial advice who, for whatever reason, aren’t receiving it.

That’s the opinion of Anthony Morrow, CEO of OpenMoney, a new online investing and advice offering based in Manchester, England.

In the latest episode of the Intelligent Adviser podcast, Morrow explains how “the idea that people don’t need advice simply because they don’t have a lot of money is nonsense… Everyone should have access to advice. It shouldn’t be up to the industry to determine whether or not people are eligible for it, based around whether they are profitable.”

Morrow also takes issue with the use of the term “robo-adviser”. Most services that describe themselves as such, he says, simply provide online investment portfolios.

“There are a lot of services out there that will manage your money, but the decision as to whether or not it’s the right thing for you to do, or whether you’re (buying) the right product, remains with the customer. Those are two pretty important questions to be leaving to a non-expert.”

In the UK, as in other countries, robo-advisers are struggling to make a profit, and Morrow is not surprised.

“The market is definitely crowded,” he says, “with quite a lot of ‘me too’ propositions… The idea of becoming profitable simply by investing ISAs is a challenge.”

Morrow is relatively bullish about the future of traditional, face-to-face advice, but he does expect plenty of disruption in the sector in the years ahead.

“Advisers are not getting any younger,” he says. “How that gap is bridged is going to be interesting. Hopefully it will lead to more innovation and competition.”

You can listen to the podcast here:

You’ll found Intelligent Adviser on both SoundCloud and on iTunes.