Financial planners tied to Australia’s big four banks are steering clients to in-house investment products more than ever, according to new research published by Roy Morgan.

Around two thirds of all people who sought financial advice from a bank-owned planning firm were recommended in-house investments, the Roy Morgan report found.

“Financial Planners from each of the major planning groups (AMP and the four major banks) have continued to show a preference for their own products,” the report states.

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The bank most likely to flog its own investment products to financial advice clients is Westpac.

Financial advisers at the bank’s wealth management subsidiary, BT, recommended in-house products to 76.1 per cent of clients, according to the Roy Morgan survey.

“Over the three year period, from 2012 to 2014 Westpac/BT remains the highest with 76.1% of people using a Westpac Group Financial Planner ending up with a Westpac/BT product.

“For the 12 months to December 2014 this has risen to 82.4%.”

According to Roy Morgan’s national survey of 50,000 consumers, only 24 per cent of Australians trust financial planners.

This is the lowest satisfaction rating recorded by Roy Morgan since it began measuring public perceptions of the profession in 2009.

While most Australians are worried about the independence of financial planners, the survey also found that most people were not aware that the banks owned many financial planning firms.

For example, 51 per cent of survey respondents believed that one of National Australia Bank’s financial planning firms – Godfrey Pembroke – was independent.

Similarly, 52 per cent of respondents said that AMP’s Hillross subsidiary was an untied financial advice business.

Despite the recent scandals involving Financial Wisdom planners, most people still believe it is independent and not owned by Commonwealth Bank.

The Roy Morgan survey found that the percentage of Australians switching super funds declined in 2014 to 3.3 per cent compared to 4.9 per cent in 2012.