Number of smaller advice firms continues to shrink, analysis finds

'Costs of running an advice business on the rise'

Julia Bahr
clock • 2 min read

Plymouth-based IFA business Continuum was just one of 41 firms with more than 50 advisers in 2021, according to the latest Retail Mediation Activities Return (RMAR) data revealed by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

The research showed that the number of firms with more than 50 advisers rose 17% from 35 firms in 2020, as consolidation within the financial advice market continued to narrow the number of smaller firms. In 2020, there were 4,581 firms with between one and five advisers, in 2021 this fell 4% to 4,396 firms. Continuum said it had 57 financial advisers in 2021 and was approaching 60 advisers at the end of June 2022. According to the FCA's RMAR data, there was a slight rise in the number of financial adviser posts across all firms despite the fall in the number of smaller firms. The ...

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