FT Adviser Top 100 Financial Advisers
2024
Unveiling the top UK financial advice firms of the year
Welcome to the FTAdviser Top 100 2024
Every year brings change to the world of regulated financial services, some positive and some less so.
Over the past year we have seen positive developments, such as the largely successful implementation of Consumer Duty regulations, and negative ones, such as the amount of paperwork and compliance caused by [checks notes] the implementation of the Consumer Duty regulations.
There has been a new government, too, with the consequent changes to taxation and financial policy-making. The hokey-cokey of the social care cap (is it in? is it out?) and reversal of savings incentives, such as the British Isa, have not helped advisers when conveying important communications to clients.
Amid political flip-flopping and sweeping regulatory reform, therefore, it is encouraging to see so many British financial advice businesses flourishing.
It has become too easy to focus on the negatives, particularly the disappearance of several advice companies and individual advisers from the UK, through consolidation or retirement.
As FT Adviser revealed exclusively earlier this year, the number of firms authorised to provide retail investment advice fell to 5,805 as at February 2024 from 6,240 in August 2022.
It's crucial to build trust while offering a service that’s clearly defined and stands out from the rest.
But the FT Adviser Top 100 IFAs 2024 tells a slightly different story about those who remain.
For almost 30 years, FT Adviser has published its annual Top 100 financial adviser rankings as a snapshot of the best of the best.
The initial sweep, to create a long list of 150 firms, usually takes as a benchmark a certain amount of gross inflows over the past 12 months; data provided by platforms, discretionary fund managers and asset managers.
In recent years, this threshold has fluctuated somewhere between £150mn and £170mn, but reflecting an exceptionally strong year for the majority of advice business across the UK, the bar in 2024 ended up at £185mn.
Clearly, millions of Britons are realising the value of financial advice, which is testament to the professionalism and dedication of the advisers and the supporting staff.
Methodology
A note on the methodology, which you can find later in this report, should you wish to know more.
The final list is put together in collaboration with ISS Market Intelligence. The methodology is refined each year based on a variety of metrics, although as said previously, the initial sweep is done on size.
For example, ISS examines whether the business has been given a charter by an accrediting body, its client retention levels, or when the company was founded, and scored it accordingly.
This year the average longevity for firms in the Top 100 was 43, while 19 out of the top 20 firms were chartered or accredited.
Only the top 10 are ranked in order; the rest of the Top 100 are listed alphabetically.
Some new entrants into the top 20 this year include Continuum Financial Services, which moved up the table to take 12th spot.
Edinburgh’s Johnston Carmichael has retained its top ranking for the third year in a row. Craig Hendry, managing director of the firm, attributes this mostly to the professionalism of the team.
Obviously, there’s more to what makes a top firm than just numbers, which is why the Top 100 list (well, technically 101, given recent market activity that happened after we'd judged the process) is just a snapshot of what great looks like. “Stability, experience and a commitment to professionalism and client focus are key,” ISS says.
Overriding factor
All these things are important metrics when it comes to choosing the best financial adviser. But there’s one more, overriding factor.
Schroders Personal Wealth, along with Schroders-owned Benchmark Capital, is one of the top 100 in this year’s list. For Gillian Hepburn, commercial director at Benchmark Capital, trust is king. She says: “It’s a key factor for consumers when choosing and assessing the value their financial planner will provide.
“It's crucial to build trust while offering a service that’s clearly defined and stands out from the rest. There’s not one single way to do this, but a combination of being clear and transparent about what type of clients you can help, the benefits, and how much it will cost them is a good place to start.”
Trust is, therefore, ultimately the hallmark of a great financial advice business firm.
And a word to new advice companies just starting on their journey? Hendry offers the following: "Become as highly qualified as possible. While it’s good to research what’s out there, don’t follow the pack.
"Be unique and innovative, but don’t try and be too clever, as clients are looking for that trusted offering. Lastly, do what the client wants and needs, rather than what you think they want."
Simoney Kyriakou is editor of FT Adviser
The list
1-20
- Johnston Carmichael Wealth Ltd
- Craven Street Wealth Limited
- Mercer Private Wealth
- Forvis Mazars Financial Planning Ltd
- Pharon Independent Financial Advisers Ltd
- Beckett Financial Services Ltd
- AAB Wealth Ltd
- Clayton Holmes Naisbitt Financial Consultancy LLP
- Rosebridge
- EQ Investors Ltd
- Simpson Wood (Financial Services) Ltd
- Continuum (Financial Services) LLP
- Progeny Wealth
- HFMC Wealth Group
- Fidelius Ltd
- Cullen Wealth Ltd
- Fiscal Engineers Ltd
- FB Wealth Management Ltd
- Partners Wealth Management LLP
- NatWest
A-E
Advanta Wealth
AHSL Group
Altor Wealth Management LLP
Amber River
Aon Group
Argyle Consulting Ltd
Ascot Lloyd
Asset Management Financial Advisers Ltd
Barclays Group
Bartlett Wealth Management Ltd
BBT Group Ltd
Benefact Group
Canter Holland Ltd
Carrington Investment Consultants Ltd
Charles Stanley & Co Ltd
Chase de Vere
Chetwood Wealth Management Ltd
Clarity Ltd
DGS Independent Financial Advisers Ltd
Douglas Steers & Co Ltd
Eastwood Financial Services Ltd
Ellis Bates Wealth Management Ltd
F-M
Fairstone
Financial Advice & Services Ltd
Finitor Wealth Group
Finli Group
Flying Colours
FMIFA
Foster Denovo
Francis Clark Financial Planning Ltd
Greystone Financial Services Ltd
Hammond Raggett & Co Ltd
Hilltop Financial Planning
Invest Southwest Ltd
Isio Wealth Planning Ltd
IWP UK
Jamieson Christie Wealth Management Ltd
Kerr Henderson
Landmark IFA Ltd
Lomond Financial Management Group
Lumin Wealth
Martin Aitken Financial Services Ltd
Mattioli Woods Group
McCrea Financial Services Ltd
McHardy Financial Ltd
MKC Wealth
N-Z
Oculus Wealth Management
Old Mill Financial Planning Ltd
Old Mutual Group
Origen Financial Services Ltd
Paradigm Norton Financial Planning Ltd
Pareto Financial Planning Ltd
Pembroke Financial Services Ltd
Pen-Life Associates Ltd
Perspective
PI Financial Ltd
Profile Financial Solutions Ltd
Punter Southall
Quilter
Reeves Independent Ltd
S G Wealth Management Ltd
Sandringham Financial Partners Ltd
Schroders
SMG F S Ltd
Smith & Pinching Financial Services Ltd
St James's Place Wealth Management plc
Sterling & Law Group plc
Succession
The On-Line Partnership Group
The Private Office
Thomson Tyndall
Titan Group
True Wealth Group
Truly Independent Ltd
ValidPath
Verso Group
Vintage Wealth Management
Walker Crips
Westminster Wealth Management LLP
Wingate
Wren Sterling Financial Planning Ltd
The methodology
The FT Adviser Top 100 is compiled based on Financial Clarity data from ISS Market Intelligence, a leading provider of data, analytics, and insight solutions to the global financial services industry.
The list looks at a variety of factors, including gross inflows throughout the year, client retention, the number of chartered and certified financial planners and length of service.
Financial Clarity receives data directly from fund managers and investment platforms, with a combined coverage of more than 90 per cent of the UK’s intermediary fund flows. Fund manager coverage is made up of more than 60 of the UK’s leading fund managers, including coverage from fund managers outside of the Investment Association rankings – such as discretionary fund managers and alternative providers.
The top 100 list is created by first selecting the 150 largest firms by gross sales in the previous 12 months, July 2023-June 2024 for the 2024 list. Individual firms that are affiliated with a wider group are included within the figures for the group, and appointed representatives are included within the figures for their principal, regardless of whether they could appear individually. This year firms with gross sales of more than £185m were eligible for inclusion compared with £160m in 2023.
Each firm is then scored on six different factors the sum of which produce the ranking:
- AUM Score – 110% of the Natural Logarithm of June 2024 AUM.
- Net % Score – Past 12 months (July 2023 to June 2024) Net-Sales percentage of June 2023 AUM, broken down into quintiles awarding points as follows: 1, 5, 9, 12 & 14 points for each quintile, respectively.
- Years Score – 1/8 point for each year in service up to a maximum of 10 points. This year, the average years in service for the Top-100 firms is 43 years.
- Retention Score – Pence outflows per each £1 inflows – the lower the better. Broken down to quintiles awarding points as follows: 4, 3, 2, 1 & 0 points for each quintile, respectively.
- Estimated Performance Score – Based on AUM growth over the period once Net-Sales are taken away. Broken down to quintiles awarding points as follows: 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5 & 2 for each quintile, respectively.
- CII or CISI Chartered/Accredited – Firms that are chartered or accredited by CISI or CII received points based on the percentage of the AUM held by chartered or accredited firms. This factor awards a maximum of 10 points.
The average weight for each of the above factors in this year’s Top-100 firms:
- Assets held accounted for an average of 49.4 per cent of each adviser’s score.
- Net-flow accounted for an average of 23 per cent of each adviser’s score.
- Years of service accounted for an average of 8.9 per cent of each adviser’s score.
- Retention accounted for an average of 5.9 per cent of each adviser’s score.
- Estimated performance accounted for an average of 2.5 per cent of each adviser’s score.
- CISI or CII Chartered/Accredited accounted for an average of 10.3 per cent of each adviser’s score.
The displayed figures have been rounded to two significant figures and include assets invested in retail advisory investments and pensions, reported to Financial Clarity by its partners. Other assets, such as those invested in discretionary funds or model portfolios were included, when submitted to us as such.
We considered whether firms were chartered or accredited Financial Planners as a mark of their professionalism and commitment to their clients. In the case of groups where some members were chartered or accredited and others were not, points were awarded based on the percentage of the AUM held by chartered or accredited firms. Firms can become chartered by the CII or Accredited by the CISI by meeting the organisations’ respective criteria details of which can be found on their websites, www.cii.co.uk or www.cisi.org
About ISS Market Intelligence
ISS Market Intelligence (MI) is a leading global provider of data, analytics, insights, media, and events solutions to the global financial services industry.
ISS MI empowers global asset and wealth management firms, insurance companies, distributors, service providers, and technology firms by providing cutting-edge market-engagement platforms and the actionable intelligence necessary to fully assess their target markets, identify and analyse the best opportunities within those markets, and execute on comprehensive go-to-market initiatives to grow their business.
ISS MI clients benefit from our global ecosystem that leverages a combination of proprietary data, powerful software and analytics, timely and relevant insights, and in-depth research.
ISS Market Intelligence helps asset managers navigate the FCA register with MarketPro
How we use data for market insights
ISS Market Intelligence understands that data, analytics and deeper insights into adviser behaviour are more crucial than ever for asset managers looking to stay ahead of the competition.
MarketPro offers asset managers the ability to tap into a comprehensive database of FCA-authorised contacts, enabling firms to identify key decision-makers, size firms by sales volumes and identify expansion opportunities.
The platform’s interactive map and pinpoint functions provide a visual way to understand geographic distribution and network dynamics, and target specific firms for events and campaign activities.
Understanding advisers' needs to drive business growth
The rebranded MarketPro continues to build on the capabilities and features that made Adviser Clarity a trusted resource for asset managers.
It provides a single, integrated platform that brings together comprehensive contact data, role-related information, and advanced analytics.
MarketPro provides firms with the intelligence they need to allocate their sales and marketing resources more effectively.
This helps ensure that companies not only reach the right advisers but also engage them in ways that are more meaningful and impactful.
“MarketPro provides firms with the intelligence they need to allocate their sales and marketing resources more effectively,” said Nick Wakeham, head of client success at ISS Market Intelligence.
“This is a critical resource for firms targeting the UK adviser channel, helping them to better understand the dynamics of adviser networks and the specific needs of the advisers themselves.”
Improving communication between advisers and asset managers
ISS Market Intelligence has a history of working closely with asset managers and financial advisers, including providing the data for FTAdviser's annual Top 100 adviser awards since their inception.
The insights gained from this extensive collaboration have informed the development of MarketPro, which is designed to bridge the gap between asset managers and advisers.
What is MarketPro’s role in the evolving financial landscape?
In an environment where understanding advisers’ business models and client needs can make the difference between success and failure, MarketPro provides the tools necessary for firms to stay agile and responsive.
MarketPro is available now, and ISS Market Intelligence encourages firms looking to strengthen their engagement with financial advisers to explore its features and benefits.
With its wealth of data and intuitive platform, MarketPro is set to become an essential part of any asset manager's toolkit in the UK market.
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