NextWealth Financial Advice Business Benchmarks Report 2025 - Report - Page 20
NextWealth Financial Advice Business Benchmarks Report / October 2025
Figure 22: From cheque books to playbooks: less appetite to acquire, sharper focus on organic levers
Q Over the next 18 months, does your 昀椀rm intend to do any of the following?
Our in-depth annual study, Consolidators & Aggregators (see
sample page), echoes this shift. Q1 2025 data show the pace
of acquisitions slowing even as deal values hold up, driven by
consolidation among the consolidators. At the smaller-昀椀rm end
of the market, acquisitive activity has tapered. We also hear
that consolidators are becoming more selective, prioritising
昀椀rms that meet narrow criteria. For smaller 昀椀rms, selling feels
less attractive, while buying is increasingly unrealistic.
Organic growth focus
That hasn’t dampened con昀椀dence. Firms remain bullish on
growing assets under management and taking on new clients.
What’s changing is the route to get there. Organic growth is
rising in importance, replacing acquisition as the growth engine.
Just over half (51%) of 昀椀nancial advice professionals say
their 昀椀rm intends to grow by increasing client assets under
management, and over two-thirds are seeking to add more
clients to the roster.
Smaller 昀椀rms, with between 2 and 5 advisers, are even more
likely to be focusing on these organic growth channels.
Financial advice 昀椀rms are sharpening their focus on proactive
referrals, client segmentation and share of wallet, themes we
unpack in our recent guide to organic growth.
Data & MI
Good business decisions need good data. When data is
clean and connected, it becomes a strategic asset: it helps
evidence value under Consumer Duty, identify the right
clients for deeper engagement, and measure the real drivers
of organic growth. Strong MI underpins both compliance and
competitiveness, giving 昀椀rms the con昀椀dence to pull the right
levers, invest at the right time, and demonstrate impact.
Overall satisfaction with data is middling: scores for quality,
approach to using data to inform strategic decisions and the
昀椀rm’s ability to store and structure data are falling below 7 out
of 10.
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