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The Quality of Financial Advice: What Influences Client Recommendations?

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Listed:
  • Philippe d'Astous
  • Irina Gemmo
  • Pierre-Carl Michaud

Abstract

In this paper, we conduct an experiment with a large sample of financial planner professionals in Canada to elicit factors which may influence client recommendations. Using repeated client vignettes, we find that recommendations are often in-line with what one would expect from economic theory. In particular, advice is sensitive in expected ways to relative costs and benefits of particular options. In some domains, we find evidence that planners are more likely to recommend products they own themselves, their spouse owns, or they are licensed to sell. In the investment domain, we also find that planners are more likely to recommend products that clients inquire about even when this type of solicitation is randomized across clients and options. Finally, we find that planners are systematically sensitive to the gender of the client even when gender is uninformative regarding which recommendation to make.

Suggested Citation

  • Philippe d'Astous & Irina Gemmo & Pierre-Carl Michaud, 2022. "The Quality of Financial Advice: What Influences Client Recommendations?," Cahiers de recherche / Working Papers 9, Institut sur la retraite et l'épargne / Retirement and Savings Institute.
  • Handle: RePEc:rsi:irersi:9
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hackethal, Andreas & Laudenbach, Christine & Meyer, Steffen & Weber, Annika, 2018. "Client involvement in expert advice: Antibiotics in finance?," SAFE Working Paper Series 219, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE.
    2. Chalmers, John & Reuter, Jonathan, 2020. "Is conflicted investment advice better than no advice?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(2), pages 366-387.
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    10. Utpal Bhattacharya & Andreas Hackethal & Simon Kaesler & Benjamin Loos & Steffen Meyer, 2012. "Is Unbiased Financial Advice to Retail Investors Sufficient? Answers from a Large Field Study," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 25(4), pages 975-1032.
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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G51 - Financial Economics - - Household Finance - - - Household Savings, Borrowing, Debt, and Wealth
    • G52 - Financial Economics - - Household Finance - - - Insurance
    • G53 - Financial Economics - - Household Finance - - - Financial Literacy

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