On 30 September 2025, BETTER FINANCE, in collaboration with the European Financial Planning Association (EFPA), hosted a high-level conference in Brussels to discuss the future of financial advice and literacy in Europe.
Under the theme “Financial Literacy and Professional Advice: Driving Confidence, Protection and Well-Being of EU Citizens,” the discussions highlighted the urgent need to bridge the gap between citizens' financial aspirations and real-world outcomes, with a focus on empowering savers, strengthening investor protection, and building a more inclusive Savings and Investment Union.
Presentation of the Financial Health of Europeans Report
The conference kicked off with the presentation of the joint BETTER FINANCE and EFPA study on the financial health of Europeans. For this study, 14,000 adults from 10 EU countries were surveyed, providing insight into how Europeans manage their day-to-day finances, prepare for the future, and perceive their financial freedom.
Presenting the survey’s findings, Mariola Szymańska, EFPA Board Member, noted that although 86% of respondents agreed that financial health is important, fewer than half felt financially secure, and only 15% considered themselves financially free. Worryingly, 44% of Europeans are unaware of their pension contributions, and one in three admits they do nothing to prepare for retirement. The report also highlighted persistent behavioural gaps, with many citizens making financial plans but only 15% consistently following through.
In her intervention, Aleksandra Mączyńska, Managing Director at BETTER FINANCE, stressed that the findings confirm the urgent need to go beyond financial literacy and focus on skills, behaviour, and access to high-quality advice. She emphasised that the widespread overestimation of future pensions must be addressed, and that reforms should prioritise automatic enrolment into value-for-money retirement schemes, alongside tools that help citizens better understand their contributions and entitlements.
“Education alone is not enough. Citizens need the right tools, clear information, and access to trusted, conflict-free advice if they are to achieve financial well-being. Without these, the pension time bomb will only tick louder,” said Aleksandra Mączyńska while presenting the recommendations.
She also called for stronger EU action on debt management, improved transparency on the true cost of advice, and more use of behavioural nudges to help savers stay on track. Above all, she emphasised that high-quality, independent advice is a critical condition for turning financial literacy into tangible, long-term results for European citizens.
Fireside Chat: Reactions to the Report
Following the presentation, a fireside chat moderated by Laura Noonan, Journalist at Bloomberg, centred on what was genuinely new in the report versus what had long been known, and most importantly, how to transform citizens' willingness to learn into meaningful improvements in financial health.
From a research perspective, Marie-Sophie Lappe, Research Analyst at Bruegel, noted that while low financial literacy and persistent gender gaps are well-documented, the report shed light on the behavioural gap, specifically the disparity between strong motivation to improve financial knowledge and weak follow-through in real life.
Ines Scacchi, Director of Regulatory Affairs at ESBG, underlined the need to simplify customer journeys, pointing out that complex rules such as MiFID questionnaires often deter savers. She also warned against the rising risks of “buy now, pay later” products, particularly for younger citizens, and called for stronger EU oversight.
Speaking from a policymaker's perspective, Philippe Thill, Member of Cabinet for Commissioner Maria Luis Albuquerque, emphasised that the report comes at a crucial moment, as the College was debating an EU financial literacy strategy and a recommendation on Savings and Investment Accounts. He stressed that both access and mindset need to be addressed: citizens require greater awareness and confidence, but also simpler, more usable tools with lower fees and clearer rules.
Praising the timely publication of the report, the panellists agreed on clear benchmarks for success over the next five years: narrowing gender and income gaps in financial well-being, improving pension awareness, and ensuring that more citizens move beyond short-term saving into long-term, value-for-money investments.
Panel Discussion: Financial Advice at the Crossroads of Investor Protection, Results, and Digitalisation
The closing panel brought together voices from politics, banking, insurance, and consumer advocacy to address one of the conference’s central questions: how can financial advice simultaneously deliver investor protection, strong outcomes, and adapt to digitalisation?
From the policy side, Andrea Liesenfeld, Deputy Head of Retail Financial Services Unit at the European Commission’s DG FISMA, stressed that despite advances in digitalisation and the rise of robo-advisory, personal financial advice remains essential. She highlighted measures under the Retail Investment Strategy (RIS) and the Savings and Investment Union (SIU), including raising professional qualifications, extending inducement bans and introducing a client best interest test to ensure advice leads to better outcomes.
Echoing the importance of advice, Jacopo Borgognone, Senior Advisor for Capital Markets at EBF emphasised the role of banks in building long-term financial habits. For Borgognone, banks are not competitors to capital markets but gateways into them.
William Vidonja, Head of Conduct of Business at Insurance Europe, built on this by highlighting Europe’s paradox: high saving but low investment. Insurance, he argued, can play a transformative role, with diverse pension and life products already channelling trillions into EU assets. But the consumer journey is often too complex and weighed down by paperwork, which discourages participation. He called for streamlined disclosures and stronger insurance literacy to ensure citizens actually benefit from the products they buy.
Aleksandra Mączyńska strongly represented the retail investor perspective, emphasising that the true measure of success is whether citizens experience real, positive outcomes from their savings. She warned that many EU pension products continue to underperform and that inducement-based advice models often lead clients towards costly, unsuitable products rather than simple, value-for-money solutions like ETFs.
“Education is important, but it does not guarantee action. To achieve real financial well-being, we need automatic enrolment into quality pension products and a radical improvement in the transparency and independence of advice. Citizens must know what they are paying for—and be confident that it is in their best interest,” said Aleksandra Mączyńska.
The panel converged on key cross-cutting themes:
- transparency is essential, but more paperwork is not the answer;
- digitalisation offers opportunities, but must be carefully managed;
- pension reform is the most pressing challenge.
As moderator Josep Soler-Albertí, EFPA Board Director, concluded, financial advisors are central to the success of the Savings and Investment Union; without them, Europe risks leaving too many citizens behind.
Final Reflection
The conference made clear that financial literacy and professional advice are no longer optional add-ons but essential building blocks of citizens’ financial well-being and of Europe’s broader competitiveness. Across the sessions, speakers converged on several urgent themes: the need to shift from financial literacy to practical skills and behaviour.