People of color getting less financial advice than a year ago

An Allianz survey finds that African Americans, Hispanics, Asians and Asian Americans all saw a decline in the portion consulting with a financial professional in 2022.

Americans who identify as BIPOC, which stands for Black, indigenous and people of color, including Hispanic and Asian/Asian Americans, report receiving less professional guidance on financial matters than they did a year ago, according to an annual survey by Allianz.

Each BIPOC community identified in the study noted a decline in working with a financial professional compared to 2021. At the same time, the engagement of white Americans with financial professionals remained steady (48% in 2022 vs. 49% in 2021).

Among those surveyed, 24% of Blacks and African Americans used a financial adviser or other financial professional, down from 38% in 2021. Among Hispanics, the decline was from 44% to 35%, while 32% of Asians and Asian Americans now use a financial professional, down from 36% in 2021.

“We know these past two years of managing through the pandemic have only served to exacerbate the racial wealth gap, so it’s discouraging to see that BIPOC communities aren’t getting a higher level of financial planning help compared to last year,” Travis Walker, business solutions and diversity consultant at Allianz Life, said in a release.

[More: Black investors prefer Black advisers. What happened to being ‘color-blind’?]

The lack of engagement with financial professionals could be causing feelings of unpreparedness, Allianz said in the release.

Fewer BIPOC respondents said they feel prepared to support financially the various things they’d like to do or the passions they’d like to pursue over the course of their life compared to white respondents (62% Black/African American; 68% Hispanic; 72% Asian/Asian American; vs. 78% white).

At the same time, the percentage of BIPOC respondents who have never used a financial professional but said they would consider using one grew for each group: 37% for Black and African American respondents, up from 32% in 2021; 34% for Hispanic respondents, up from 30% in 2021; and 39% for Asian and Asian American respondents, up from 34% in 2021.

[More: How digital platforms can be more accessible to minority investors]