The number of people receiving ongoing financial advice in the UK has risen by over a fifth in the last five years. But the population of advisers has hardly grown and in 2023 it actually fell. Strong demand for advice has propelled the average number of clients per adviser higher, now at 127.
Advisers’ ability to service increasing numbers of people could be approaching its limit, according to the Platforum analysis in our upcoming UK Financial Advisers: Market Overview report. The sector may be approaching capacity, at least with current working methods. Our interviews with many SME advisers support this view – plenty of firms tell us they won’t take on any more clients.
We project that just over four million people will be receiving financial advice by 2028 and we expect clients per adviser to top out at less than 150. Quite simply, demand for advice is strong and growing, but supply is constrained. The answer is to recruit a lot more advisers or to boost their efficiency.
Can advisers recruit more effectively as the labour market loosens? And will AI shake up how advisers work? We cover these issues, alongside the other trends shaping the advice market, in our new report. Get in touch for more information.