NextWealth Financial Advice Business Benchmarks Report 2025 - Report - Page 4
NextWealth Financial Advice Business Benchmarks Report / October 2025
Executive summary
Overall con昀椀dence
Firms with more than 50 advisers operate with roughly one
client-facing adviser for every nine colleagues in operations,
support, paraplanning and tech, compared with about one to
four in 昀椀rms with 2–5 advisers.
Preparing for an annual review takes 4.8 total staff hours on
average (less at small 昀椀rms, more at larger businesses). One
third of 昀椀nancial advice professionals say that delivering the
review and following up is the lengthiest step in the annual
review process.
As AI trims admin and restores client time, the share
of
昀椀nancial
advice
professionals
fully
con昀椀dent
in their career prospects has risen from 48%
to 60%.
Con昀椀dence in the regulator has picked up slightly. Just 13%
of employees of 昀椀nancial advice 昀椀rms are fully con昀椀dent in the
tools and tech that underpin advice.
Clients
47% of client-facing advisers say they are now working with
more clients than a year ago.
Although referrals still drive most new business, younger
advisers attract new clients from a wider range of sources.
Client bases are ageing: 34% of clients are 65+ and 9% are
75+, growth in new net revenue is needed to secure long-term
business sustainability.
More 昀椀rms now segment their clients by ‘need for ongoing
advice’ than asset level.
Over a third (35%) of 昀椀nancial advice professionals are focusing
on making information easier to understand for clients with
vulnerabilities.
A Centralised Investment Proposition (CIP) is now standard for
most 昀椀rms (80%), compared with 61% operating a Centralised
Retirement Proposition (CRP).
One in four expect to increase their use of discretionary MPS,
outstripping expectations for growth in multi-asset/multimanager funds for the 昀椀rst year.
Average exposure to ethical/impact/sustainable funds is at a
昀椀ve-year high (23%), yet client-led conversations on this theme
are at a 昀椀ve-year low (14%).
Business strategy & growth
Chequebooks to playbooks: just 6% say their 昀椀rm plans
to sell, and 8% are in acquisition mode. In contrast, 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.
Data as a driver of growth: 26% of respondents say that
their 昀椀rm has made changes in the past year speci昀椀cally to
improve data.
Respondents who rate their 昀椀rm’s data practices more
highly are more con昀椀dent in generating client asset growth,
attracting new clients, and in the quality of the tech and tools
supporting advice.
37% of respondents increased their ongoing advice fees in the
past 12 months.
Percentage of assets remains the dominant model; a quarter
of 昀椀nancial advice professionals say their 昀椀rm uses 昀椀xed fees.
Minimums are shifting from assets to fees. 53% have a
minimum fee level, compared with only 36% who operate a
minimum AUM.
Markets & regulation
Three years on, Consumer Duty remains the single biggest
driver of change for 45% of respondents. The retirement
income advice review ranks second at 21%.
Tech & ef昀椀ciency
Only 13% of respondents are fully con昀椀dent in the quality of
their 昀椀rm’s technology, tools and systems.
People & capacity
Just 29% are satis昀椀ed with their current tech. 7 in 10 昀椀rms
(70%) made changes to their stack in the past year, with 20%
focused on data analytics and 26% implementing AI meetingnotes tools.
Hiring ambitions have tempered. More 昀椀nancial advice 昀椀rms
do not plan to hire than do (47% vs 38%).
Over 50% of 昀椀nancial advice professionals now use AI for
meeting notes and summaries.
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