Two thirds of advisers expect to increase their earnings next year, according to a poll by online support service for IFAs provider Marketing Innovation Forum.

Out of 200 advisers asked if they expected to earn more in 2010 than in 2009, 134 (67 per cent) answered they expected more cash in their pockets next year while only 34 (17 per cent) anticipated their earnings going down.

A further 13 per cent thought they would earn roughly the same and 3 per cent indicated they did not know how much cash to expect in 2010.

Derek McGuire, co-founder of Marketing Innovation Forum, said: “It is great to be able to report a message of positivity so close to Christmas, following the year many in financial services have had to battle through.

“Many advisers are flexible, forward-thinking entrepreneurs, so it is refreshing that so few seem disheartened, and so many are optimistic about the future.”

Julian Wells, director of Marketing Innovation Forum, said: “The ifs, buts and most importantly the when of the recovery have been discussed to death, and it remains a guessing game.

“This poll reveals that those on the front line of financial services are confident, which can only be a good thing. Let us not forget what a tough time the last two years have been for advisers though, so to see a downward trend at this point would actually have been very surprising.”

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FT Adviser has reported that Mortgage brokers’ confidence has been declining all year but there could be good news just around the corner, following comments made by Stephen Smith, director of housing of Legal & General.

He said Legal & General’s survey of appointed representatives shows that 42 per cent of them believe business in the next quarter will be flat – broadly consistent with the previous surveys in the second and third quarter.

About a quarter (23 per cent) of advisers believe that next quarter will be worse, and this figure has in fact risen from 15 per cent in the third quarter and 6 per cent in the second quarter of the year.

Mr Smith said: “This isn’t really surprising, though, considering that this period covers the year-end when volumes are traditionally down, so I would call this realistic rather than pessimistic.

“However, we believe that there are plenty of things to be positive about, what with house prices showing a mini recovery, absent lenders potentially looking to come back into the market and more products at higher loan-to-values.

“In addition, there is a lot of interest in the commercial market, the buy-to-let market is showing signs of growth for the first time in a long time, and house builders such as Persimmon are generally quite bullish.

“Our message to brokers is ‘keep your chins up or you might not see the business that is out there.’”

Please note: Information in this blog post is content property of FT Adviser and a full version of the article can be found by clicking here.

If you would like discuss how our Debt Collection service can assist your business, please visit the Debt Recovery section on our website,  contact us on +44 (0) 151 515 3014 or email us.