Almost six out of ten advisors in the UK believe that the Retail Distribution Review has, on the whole, improved the quality of financial advice because it has made fees more visible, according to research from Schroders.

Many advisors, of course, are grumbling about the unwanted consequences of the RDR, especially its imposition of extra administrative and regulatory burdens, higher costs and a widening "advice gap" for low-to-middle-net-worth individuals.

Schroders' research has come in the form of survey of 575 UK financial advisors in the United Kingdom, 18% of whom said that the review had not had a positive effect on the quality of advice.

It has now been two years since the RDR came into force, requiring financial advisors to charge their clients up-front fees rather than accepting sales commissions from product providers. As a result of it, there has been a wave of consolidation in the independent financial advisor market as smaller IFAs have struggled to deal with rising regulatory costs. However, Chris Hannant, the director general of the Association of Professional Financial Advisers, told WealthBriefing, our sister site, that the effects "were on the whole positive now that the spotlight is on advisor value."

He added: “Although there has been a lot of merger and acquisition activity in the advisory market, the number of firms has remained broadly consistent. The Retail Distribution Review has pushed IFAs to look more closely at their business proposition and prioritise value for money for clients.

“Firms have also been more ruthless about who to provide their services to, opting to focus on those with significantly more assets under management.”

The research show that advisors are now often passing clients' assets to professional managers such as wealth management firms while they concentrate their own efforts on holistic financial advisory services. Around 55% of advisors who already 'outsource' are increasing the proportion of the assets they pass on, with 88% stating that they will continue to outsource portfolio management next year.

“In these uncertain times for markets, client portfolios need all the help they can get,” said Schroders' Robin Stoakley.