Sir Cliff Richard Beats Blair, Hague and Darling in Money Advice Poll

More people would trust Sir Cliff Richard than either Tony Blair or William Hague to sell them a decent pension, and virtually no one would choose Alastair Darling, the Government Minister in charge of pensions - according to a new MORI survey for i.e. group, a UK new financial services group.

In the aftermath of the budget and with the shrinking of the welfare state putting the consumer's need for financial advice back under the spotlight, i.e. group commissioned research to ask the general public who - from a list of celebrities - they would most trust to sell them a decent pension. Of those who expressed a preference:

• FSA endorsement: Howard Davies, industry watchdog chief, topped the poll as most trusted celebrity for one in five people (20 per cent).

   

• SUMMER holiday bus driver, Sir Cliff Richard drove straight into second place (18 per cent) above Tony Blair. Sir Cliff was top choice among the ladies - his mass appeal seemingly unaffected attempts to remove him from the radio play lists.

   

• Party poopers: Tony Blair had to settle for third place (13 per cent) while Conservative Party leader, William Hague, failed even to make double figures - only five per cent of people said they would most trust Hague to sell them a decent pension.

   

• Des res favourite Des Lynham hit double figures, gaining 10 per cent of the vote - and was more popular among higher income groups.

   

• That's Life consumer champion, Esther Rantzen was the tope female candidate (9 per cent).

   

• No Minister: Alistair Darling, the Secretary of State for Social Security was not a top people's choice fro pensions despite him having the remit for reforming the pensions industry. Darling was held on a par with BBC's Derek 'Del Boy' Trotter and Zoe Ball - each getting a 4 per cent vote.

   

• Also rans: Supermarket sweeper, Dale Winton (3 per cent) beat Shadow Secretary of State for Social Security, Iain Duncan-Smith who tied with TV presenter Vanessa Feltz and David Beckham(2 per cent).

   

• Rock bottom and out of spice. Peter Mandelson seems to remain out of favour (one per cent) and bottomed the list along with goodwill ambassador Geri Haliwell and the later Robert Maxwell.

   

Said Dr. Brian Young of the University of Exeter Economic Psychology Research Group: "We know that the marketing of financial services require certain key propositions such as trust, integrity, and confidence to be communicated. It's an occupational hazard of political life that these qualities are often seen by the public as absent in their MPs".

Says Rupert Robson, Chief Executive i.e. group: "Our celebrity survey was intended to be a bit of fun, although there are some interesting underlying messages about the characteristics that influence consumers in their choice of financial adviser. Endorsement of the new financial services regulator is good news for an industry that is rebuilding its credentials in the aftermath of the pension review. The dramatic return to popularity of Sir Cliff together with the popularity of Des Lynham and Esther Rantzen suggests that consumers look for integrity, maturity and experience when they consider how to plan their financial futures.

"The lower than expected results for political personalities fits with other i.e. group research that revealed that MPs tend to be less trusted than other professions. In contrast, independent financial advisers - and even bank managers - scored well. This suggests that the Government's at times, confrontational approach to the industry is counter-productive. What the public need is not just new product overload - in the form of ISAs stakeholders or LISAs - but education, to empower them to be aware of the financial options they have and then the ability of make informed decisions on their financial futures. This issue underlines the need for independent financial advice and is precisely what i.e. group intends to offer the consumer - through i.e. direct".

i.e. group has created a comprehensive service to provide its customers with the complete independent financial solution to their personal needs. i.e. group comprises a number of businesses providing independent financial advice on life assurance, pensions, personal taxation, mortgages, investments, general insurance and stockbroking.

Technical details

MORI interviewed 1978 people among a nationally representative sample of Great Britain in February 1999. i.e. group is the trading name used by SEC Group PLC i.e. direct is provided by IFA Network Ltd which is regulated by the IPA