Life insurance advisers are “moderately positive” about their prospects in 2012, according to a new survey commissioned by Zurich Life Australia.

The Risk Adviser Sentiment Index was undertaken by Beaton Research and Consulting, which spoke to more than 300 advisers during December.

Advisers were asked to rate their sentiment across five key areas ranging from “extremely negative” to “extremely positive”.

The five key areas were consumer demand for advised life insurance; the adviser’s current sales volume; regulatory environment; likely sales volume for next quarter and long-term viability of their practice.

The overall sentiment score for December was calculated as 4.5 out of seven, creating a “moderately positive” outlook.

Zurich Life Australia CEO Colin Morgan says the index shows advisers are dealing positively in challenging markets.

“Despite facing stagnant financial markets, low consumer sentiment and remaining uncertainty around Future of Financial Advice legislation, life advisers are looking forward with optimism to the opportunities that 2012 may bring,” he said.

The results found those advisers active in life insurance are marginally more optimistic than those who didn’t sell life insurance.

SA Australian and Victorian advisers were more optimistic than their counterparts in other states.

Zurich intends to run the survey on a regular basis and publishing the results throughout the year.