NextWealth Financial Advice Business Benchmarks Report 2025 - Report - Page 2
NextWealth Financial Advice Business Benchmarks Report / October 2025
Letter from NextWealth
This year’s Financial Advice Business Benchmarks (FABB)
report is the seventh in the series. We publish it free each
year to give back to the 昀椀nancial advice community and share
insights that help businesses navigate an ever-changing
market.
Advisers tell us they use FABB to track how peers are evolving:
pricing, the investment mix, staf昀椀ng ratios and tech stacks.
One outsourced paraplanning 昀椀rm said they use FABB data in
most recommendation reports and to help other advice 昀椀rms
benchmark, calling it “the best free report available”.
Our cover tradition continues with robots capturing the mood
of the market: in 2023 sheltering under an umbrella during
a time of tepid markets, rising interest rates and the new
Consumer Duty, to surveying a brighter, growth-oriented path
last year.
Growth remains a central theme. What’s new is the shift from
coping with regulation to tuning the advice engine for the
road ahead – improving outcomes for clients, businesses and
advisers, and getting on the front foot.
Behind the benchmarks, 昀椀nancial advice professionals describe
a rolling tune-up of the advice engine: standardising journeys,
improving data 昀椀delity, and wiring systems together. A 昀氀avour,
in their own words:
Scale ≠ growth.
A word on growth ambitions. Not every 昀椀rm wants to be bigger.
Though with the reality of ageing client banks some 昀椀rms tell
us they need around 15% net new revenue just to stand still
(one 昀椀rm’s calculation, but a pattern we have heard echoed).
Others aim to serve the same number of clients, better and
more ef昀椀ciently.
“Use of a new back-of昀椀ce system providing more
accurate data.”
For 昀椀rms seeking to reach more people, the fear is often
losing the personal touch. A scalable advice engine protects
quality by standardising the essentials (data capture, research
steps, suitability evidence, review cadence) while preserving
personalisation at the edges (goals, communication style), so
advisers spend more time where judgment matters.
“Reviewing all charges and rationalising legacy
charging structures into more simpli昀椀ed service
levels”
This report maps the advice engine across its 昀椀ve components:
People & capacity, Clients, Business strategy & growth, Tech &
ef昀椀ciency, and Markets & regulation.
“More standardisation… using reporting for client
outcomes, rather than having it done to us.”
“New data governance policy – centralised more
information.”
At the end of each section, you’ll 昀椀nd links to deeper dives:
reports and guides with practical insight and case studies, and
ideas for 昀椀ne tuning your own advice engine.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the report.
Heather Hopkins
Managing Director
NextWealth
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