NextWealth Financial Advice Business Benchmarks Report 2025 - Report - Page 15
NextWealth Financial Advice Business Benchmarks Report / October 2025
Component 2:
People & capacity (the engine room)
/
Recruitment
Ambitions to hire more staff have tempered overall since
2024, returning to levels seen in 2023. Out of every ten
昀椀nancial advice 昀椀rms, about four plan to bring in more human
resources and 昀椀ve do not.
Figure 15: More 昀椀nancial advice 昀椀rms do not plan to hire than do (47% vs 38%).
Q Does your 昀椀rm plan to hire new staff over the next 12 months?
Respondents who work at larger 昀椀nancial advice 昀椀rms are
signi昀椀cantly more likely than average to say their 昀椀rm plans
to hire more staff. 62% of 昀椀rms with between six and 50
advisers are planning to hire, versus just 18% who are not.
Tech effect, not a cull: 昀椀rms aren’t ‘replacing people with AI,’
but we hear that they re-evaluate back昀椀lls when someone
leaves, asking whether automation and AI tools now remove
or reshape the role.
The vacancy mix is shifting. Last year’s demand centred on
client-facing advisers and client service roles. This year 昀椀rms
show more intent to hire support and operations staff, with a
small but growing cohort hiring data specialists.
However, it seems like reports of the death of the paraplanner
have been greatly exaggerated. 13% of those who are hiring
are looking for quali昀椀ed paraplanners.
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