Around two in five (40%) financial advisers see finding and attracting new clients as the biggest challenge facing their businesses, according to a new report.

Other major issues were political uncertainty or geopolitical events (38%) and regulatory or legislative change (37%), according to a report by AKG on the Future for the Advice Market.

Business strategy concerns were dominated by the viability of advice provision and requirement for sale, tech deployment and funding the future of the firm.

The advisers surveyed for the report expect M&A activity to gain pace, potentially at the cost of widening the advice gap.

Two thirds (65%) of advisers predicted that M&A among advice firms would gather momentum, with 21% forecasting that it will expand rapidly over the next three years.

Sean Osborne, group head of sales at Charles Stanley and sponsor of the report, said: “The pressure is rising on advice firms who are having to grapple with the ever-increasing costs associated with attracting a new and younger client base, a general election and potential change of government on the horizon, and the introduction of more regulation, notably the Consumer Duty.

“While, perhaps unexpectedly, more M&A activity is assumed in the years to come, it is concerning to see that these pressures may also lead to a further widening of the advice gap.”

Among the consumers surveyed for the report, 25% had seen a financial adviser in the past five years.

For those who engage with an adviser on an ongoing basis, key factors valued about the relationship included access to someone human who 'completely understands my financial situation' (19%) and 'peace of mind over financial decisions' (19%).

For those who had not consulted a financial adviser in the past five years key, reasons included not having enough wealth or assets to warrant consulting an adviser (21%), not wanting to pay for it (21%) and not needing it due to good financial understanding and making own decisions independently (20%)

The report from AKG said the advice market was in a ‘state of flux’.

Matt Ward, communications director at AKG, said: “Everyone is evidently busy dealing with important shorter-term issues which in turn is making a clear longer-term prognosis of the future of advice landscape harder to predict.

"Our previous paper was dominated by Covid-19 factors and associated industry impact and responses. To some extent current fortunes are still being heavily impacted by external forces in the form of geopolitical factors, inflationary challenges and the cost of living crisis. Add in a healthy dose of regulatory focus and challenge in the form of the Consumer Duty, and the ongoing review of retirement income advice, and it is clear to see why a state of flux exists.

“But many of the crucial requirements for advice market development, despite some pockets of progressive activity, remain the same, including the need for concrete initiatives to better define the borders between information, guidance and advice, and serious contemplation of measures which can help to help bridge the advice gap in the UK. Alongside these is the continued requirement for better integration and progressive use of technology across the advice value chain.”

• AKG surveyed 100 financial advisers between 18 and 22 August. Consumer research was conducted on AKG’s behalf by Opinium. Opinium surveyed 2,000 UK adults between 22 and 25 August.