“It is pleasing to note that the ranks of financial advisers in the UK are swelling, with the FCA now putting their number at around 22,500,” said Richard Freeman, chief executive of Intrinsic, part of Old Mutual Wealth.
“This means there is one adviser for about every 2,300 UK adults. In comparison, there are around 150,000 legal professionals and 330,000 members of accountancy bodies, and even this 5% increase in adviser numbers leaves us woefully short, especially considering the amount of change in personal finance in the last two years.
“While very welcome, this increase will do little to close the advice gap. We hope to further contribute to the increasing numbers and we are close to completing the acquisition of the Financial Adviser School, the UK’s leading facility dedicated to training the next generation of professional advisers,” Freeman concluded.
The figures from the FCA, released under the freedom of information act, are based on returns submitted to the FCA by firms but are dependent on the firms updating the information.
“While very welcome, this increase will do little to close the advice gap."
The FCA is planning to consult on bringing this data request within the retail mediation activities return (RMAR), which it believes will lessen the potential for any weaknesses in the data.
