Estate planning has become more complex and more investors will need help on this, as well as guidance on specialist tax-efficient investment solutions that capitalise on business relief.
This means that advisers will be preparing themselves for an increase in demand for tax planning services. Some are looking more and more into the Alternative Investment Market and business relief to limit their liabilities.
In a survey of 55 financial advisers published by Time Investments, the majority saw IHT planning as a key area of growth for their business, with 80 per cent expecting the number of retail investors seeking advice in this area to increase over the next three years.
Methodology
Looking at the advisers in the Top 100, there has been quite a bit of change in the top 10 compared to last year’s results.
This year’s Top 100 Financial Advisers list again uses data compiled by our research partner Matrix Solutions, an ISS Market Intelligence business, to provide a snapshot of someof the very best advice companies working in theUK today.
But the rankings no longer focus on sales to the exclusion of other metrics. In keeping with the methodology we used for the first time in 2018, the list now takes into account metrics such as advisers’ qualifications, the number of years’ experience a business has in managing money, the number of CF30-qualified staff members, and staff retention data. Full details of the methodology can be found on page 33.
These assessments mean the rankings should give a better overall assessment of how advice companies have fared over the past 12 months.
The list also places significant weighting on net flows, which account for an average of 23 per cent of each business’ score.
This means some familiar names changed position in the list.
Key Points
- Quilter Financial Planning is in the top spot after assets under management grew by 19.4 per cent.
- Increased market volatility is one of the biggest challenges for advisers.
- Advisers also face the challenge of trying to explain how they add value and earn their fees.
- Advice companies are investing in technology to offer clients more choice.
- Advisers will be looking to develop their tax planning business further.
- Methodology introduced in 2018 means small changes in a company’s results can have large effect on rankings.
- Six new companies have entered the top 10.
The methodology introduced in 2018 means that small changes in a company’s results can have a large effect on its rankings.
St James’s Place Wealth Management, which had been number one prior to 2018, dropped to 20 last year and this year climbed back up to number eight.
Tenet, which was at the top of the list last year, has now dropped to number nine.
Meanwhile, six companies previously not in the top 10 have entered that group.
The list is not meant to be seen as a competitive ranking, as each business takes different approaches to their practice and has different specialisations.
This list instead aims to deliver an overview of some of the best intermediaries who are juggling the challenges presented by their clients.
Ima Jackson-Obot is deputy features editor of FTAdviser and Financial Adviser
