Know the adviser market before you decide where you fit within it.
FCA-led intelligence on the firms, adviser populations and market structure shaping financial advice across the UK.
Use the data to understand the market around you - then compare what different firms and adviser propositions could mean for your next move.
Source: FCA-led analysis organised by Antony George for adviser-market research.
Six questions worth answering before your next move.
Use the index as a shortcut through the market, from national structure to the live adviser propositions currently available.
The data comes first. Current adviser opportunities are there to give the market context somewhere practical to lead.
9,314 firms. Five very different types of adviser business.
The UK advice market stretches from one-adviser firms to national businesses carrying thousands of advisers. Firm count alone does not tell the whole story.
Most firms sit in the smallest two bands, but together they account for just over a third of adviser capacity.
Only 149 firms sit in the Very Large band, yet they account for almost a third of the adviser population.
The number of firms falls sharply as businesses get larger, but the adviser population does not fall with it.
Firm-size bands: Micro 1 adviser · Small 2–3 · Medium 4–10 · Large 11–25 · Very Large 26+.
Ten firms account for some of the biggest adviser populations in the market.
Ranked by current investment adviser count, this shows where some of the largest adviser footprints sit within the authorised market.
Current FCA-led ranking by investment adviser count. Firm names and FRNs shown for clarity.
Select a region. See advisers, firms and compliance footprint.
Choose a region to compare wealth advisers, authorised firms, compliance / risk / AML and average advisers per firm.
London
The numbers do not choose your next move. They change the questions worth asking.
Four signals from the market data that can help an adviser compare firms and opportunities more intelligently.
Firm size can mean very different working environments.
9,314 firms do not represent one type of business. A one-adviser practice and a national firm with hundreds or thousands of advisers can differ significantly in infrastructure, support, autonomy and operating structure.
More firms does not necessarily mean more adviser capacity.
Micro and Small businesses dominate the firm count, while adviser populations are more concentrated in larger firms. That matters when you are deciding whether you value a smaller business environment or a larger adviser community.
Geography should be treated as market context, not a postcode rule.
The regional data shows where authorised-firm footprints sit, but an adviser’s practical market may cross regional boundaries, include remote or hybrid arrangements, and look very different once commuting distance is considered.
The proposition matters as much as the employer name.
Two firms of similar scale can offer advisers very different levels of support, independence, commercial structure, client ownership and long-term business value. The next section compares that operating-model question directly.
Same independence. Two very different ways to operate.
Both live opportunities protect independent advice and both include a guaranteed adviser buyout / succession plan. What changes is how much support is bundled in, how the commercial structure works and how the adviser business can be built.
Both models are explicitly independent: no compulsory central investment proposition, DFM, restricted panel or house solution.
Independent advice with more of the operating infrastructure bundled around the adviser.
Independent advice with more flexibility over business route, support usage and commercial structure.
Designed for advisers who want to run their client business without building the regulatory and operational framework themselves.
More flexibility over the business structure used to operate independently.
Initial and ongoing gross fee income sits within a simple retained-income model.
Tiered retention increases as annual fee generation moves through the published thresholds.
A key part of the bundled support proposition.
Support is available without building a fixed paraplanning charge into the model.
A more integrated operating environment with consistent digital processes.
Strong infrastructure, but with more flexibility in how the adviser business is structured.
Introduced client relationships and associated goodwill remain an important part of the adviser proposition.
Supports advisers who want greater control over how their independent business is structured and developed.
A defined succession route gives advisers confidence that client relationships and future business value have a planned destination.
Succession is also built into this proposition, so this is a shared strength rather than a reason to choose one model over the other.
Strong fit for advisers who want independence without having to build every operational component themselves.
Strong fit for advisers who want more choice over business route, support usage and long-term structure.
Live opportunity details can change. The linked Tracker vacancies remain the source for current eligibility, commercial terms and proposition detail.
Two questions worth answering before you change your business model.
Two structured CPD sessions built around the practical decisions advisers face when considering a move into business ownership or a different regulatory structure.
What changes when you stop being an employee and start building your own adviser business?
Look beyond headline earning potential and understand the responsibilities, foundations and commercial thinking that come with ownership.
If you want independence, should you operate as an AR or DA?
Compare control, support, responsibility, cost and growth so you understand what the regulatory structure means in practice.
The data can show you the market. The next decision is personal.
You do not need to be actively looking to talk through what the market means for you, how the two independent adviser models differ, or what a realistic next move could look like.
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