Clients said they placed adviser reputation and credibility at the top of their list of criteria when choosing an independent financial adviser.

The national consumer survey was carried out in January by YouGov for financial advice firm Continuum.

Over a third (37%) of consumers surveyed said reputation was the most important factor when choosing an adviser.

Reputation was a more important factor for women (41%) than men (33%), the survey found.

Personalised advice and quality of service were most important to 22% of those surveyed, followed by fee structure and cost (14%).

Of those surveyed, more than half (52%) had never sought advice from an independent financial adviser.

Many of those who had not sought professional advice said they were confident they could manage their finances without help (29%). Men were more confident than women with 34% of men confident they could manage without advice in comparison to 25% of women.

Well over a third of men (38%) had sought advice from a professional adviser in comparison to 37% of women.

Martin Brown, managing partner at Continuum, said the survey underlined the work the financial advice profession still had to do to improve its reputation if the advice gap was to close.

He said: “Several financial advice firms have taken steps to review and address their transparency with pricing and where appropriate make provision for compensation to customers. Poor actions in the market highlighted by the British Steel Pension Scheme transfer scandal have already damaged consumer confidence in financial advice firms over the past two years.

“Therefore, it is no surprise that the advice gap continues to grow. With consumers viewing reputation and credibility as the most important factor when considering taking financial advice, the sector needs to improve its public image if this gap is to close.

“The FCA is to be applauded for addressing this with the launch of the Consumer Duty, while at the same time the better advice firms have been putting consumer outcomes and transparent charging at the heart of what they do for years. Unfortunately, the approach by some firms has affected the perception of the sector as a whole.”

The survey also suggested that there was room for financial advice brands to take a prominent position within the market, with 58% of consumers surveyed having never heard of any major financial advice brands.

• YouGov surveyed 2,100 UK consumers over the age of 18 between 26 and 29 January.