The latest FCA Retail Mediation Report for 2025 makes for interesting if conflicting reading. It shows the retail investment sector is mostly in robust health financially except there’s a problem - the number of advisers is declining, significantly.

Most successful Financial Planners that I’ve come across work mainly with an older client base - people in their fifties and sixties - and naturally so, as they are often the ones who have built up considerable wealth and assets over their lifetimes.

The latest FCA report on the advice market has revealed a 13.9% year on year increase in retail investment intermediation revenue in 2025 to £6.5bn despite a decline in the number of investment advisers last year.

Revenues generated by retail investment intermediaries increased by 6% in 2024 to £5.7bn (2023: £5.3bn). 

The number of adviser firms providing independent financial advice fell 5% (year-on-year) in 2024, according to data from the latest FCA Retail Intermediary Market Data report out this week.

The FCA has proposed further cuts to data reporting requirements by reducing the frequency of submissions for selected sections of the Retail Mediation Activities Return (RMAR).