Financial advisors holding the Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) designation continue to enjoy strong trust among consumers according to a survey released today by the CLU Institute.

The CLU Institute surveyed CLUs on a number of issues related to their practice, including the size and scope of their practice, experience levels, and compensation.

The survey questioned CLUs about the size of their practices. More than 37% of CLUs provide advice to over 400 individual and/or corporate clients. 79.3% advise more than 100 clients.

Clients trust CLUs with their wealth. 59.6% of CLUs manage over $10 million of assets in their practice.

“Consumers vote with their money,” said CLU Institute chair Kris Birchard, in a release. “That so many choose to entrust so much to CLU advisors speaks to the confidence consumers place in CLU designated advisors.”

The survey shows CLUs are highly experienced with 90.1% reporting a minimum 10 years experience; 24.3% of CLUs have more than 30 years experience; 63.3% of CLUs have held that designation for more than ten years.

“Long experience, coupled with the highest professional standards and specialty education ensures that the CLU designation continues to set the mark for excellence in advanced life insurance, tax and estate planning,” said Birchard. “Judging from the results of our survey, Canadians agree.”

For those pursuing or contemplating the pursuit of a CLU designation, the survey offers plenty of incentive. Over 81% of CLUs earn a six figure gross annual income, with more than 46% grossing over $200,000 per year.

Data for the survey was collected from November 16 to December 5, 2005. The sample size is 797 with a population of 3,400. Response rate is 23.4% for the survey.

The Institute administers and promotes the CLU designation. It also administers the Code of Professional Conduct for Advocis, The Financial Advisors Association of Canada.