Report: 26% of Financial Advisers Will Recommend Crypto This Year

More than one in four financial advisers say they will recommend cryptocurrencies to their clients in the next year, according to just-published results of a survey commissioned in March.

Almost half (49 percent) of advisers said clients had inquired about investing in cryptocurrencies over the past six months.

Results of the 2021 Trends in Investing survey, conducted by the Journal of Financial Planning and the Financial Planning Association (FPA), and supported by Onramp Invest, were released this week.

Client Base Demands Knowledge, Access and Advice from Advisers

The FPA is the principal membership organisation for certified financial planners, professionals, educators and financial services professionals. Onramp Invest is a technology company providing access to crypto assets for registered investment advisers.

Onramp Invest CEO Tyrone Ross commented:

It is clear from these results that we’ve reached an inflection point in the wealth management space. Advisers are now faced with a client base that demands knowledge, access and advice from their adviser[s] on cryptoassets.

Tyrone Ross, Onramp Invest CEO

The survey received 529 responses from financial advisers of various backgrounds and business models. Cryptocurrencies were first added to the survey in 2018 when 1.4 percent of advisers indicated they were either using or recommending them to clients. That figure fell below 1 percent in 2019 and 2020 but jumped to 14 percent in 2021.

Survey results suggest that investors are concerned about the effect of tax reform on their portfolios, with 40 percent of advisers indicating clients had asked them about this topic, up from 27 percent in last year’s survey.

Youth Leads the Way in Crypto Investment

Last month’s CNBC Millionaire survey showed 47 percent of the world’s millennial millionaires have more than 25 percent of their wealth in crypto. The survey sampled 750 investors with at least US$1 million in investible assets, and indicated that more than a third of cashed-up millennials have at least half their wealth in crypto. Australian millennials are no different, as Crypto News Australia recently reported that this cohort is more interested in crypto than real estate.