FTAdviser Top 100 Financial Advisers
2023
Unveiling the top UK financial advice firms of the year
Welcome to the FTAdviser Top 100 2023
The past 12 months have been eventful. We have witnessed the coronation of a new monarch and a catalogue of chancellors and prime ministers.
We have pored through documents as tax decisions were made and repealed; reported on the effect of interest rate rises and how eye-watering inflation has been wreaking havoc on people's finances.
Simultaneously, the advice profession has been through its own changes, not least the significant efforts of every financial services professional to ensure their companies met or surpassed the regulatory expectations laid out under the new Consumer Duty.
Firms that focus on providing a service, that clients value, will continue to attract new clients and retain existing ones
Amid such a busy and oft-times frustrating year, companies have still gone over and above to serve their clients, support staff and reach new potential clients.
In August this year, the Financial Conduct Authority revealed the number of retail investment advisers rose to 37,381 in 2022, compared to 36,674 in 2021. Mortgage adviser posts grew to 36,441, compared to 36,211 in 2021.
But what all advisers have in common is their continued obligations under consumer duty to put the customer first.
And that is what Jessica Ayres, chartered financial planner at Timothy James & Partners, has put down to service - which she believes is the key to continuing to be a successful advice firm.
She said: "Service is everything - and a personalised service is the key differentiator between companies.
"Firms that focus on providing a service, that clients value, will continue to attract new clients and retain existing ones."
True, the FTAdviser Top 100 just represents a slice of the amazing work that financial advisers do, day in and day out, but to be among the names in the frame in 2023 is no mean feat.
This year's list showcases those companies whose data, made available to FTAdviser's Top 100 partners Financial Clarity/ISS Market Intelligence, demonstrates their business-winning abilities in a tough market.
But it also goes further, highlighting those companies who have helped staff through the rigours of becoming chartered or certified despite the busyness of 2023.
It shows how companies progressed with their own chartered status, despite the internecine battles going on earlier this year at one of the UK's largest accrediting bodies.
And it demonstrates how exceptionally valuable financial advice and financial planning is to millions of Britons, whose financial health and wealth has been supported during yet another difficult year by the profession.
Congratulations to all of those named among this year's Top 100.
Simoney Kyriakou is editor of FTAdviser
The list
1-20
1. Johnston Carmichael Wealth Ltd
2. Mazars Financial Planning Ltd
3. Marsh McLennan (Inc. Mercer)
4. Westminster Wealth Management LLP
5. Cullen Wealth Ltd
6. Punter Southall
7. DGS Independent Financial Advisers Ltd
8. Partners Wealth Management LLP
9. Corbel Partners
10. Beckett Investment Management Group
11. Progeny Wealth
12. The Private Office
13. Investment Quorum Ltd
14. Schroders (Schroders Personal Wealth and Schroder & Co Ltd)
15. Pharon Independent Financial Advisers Ltd
16. Fidelius Ltd
17. Argyle Consulting Ltd
18. NatWest
19. Advanta Wealth Ltd
20. Best Practice IFA Group Ltd
A-E
A&J Wealth Management Ltd
Acumen Financial Planning Ltd
Advies Private Clients LLP
AFWM Ltd
AHSL Group (Sense)
Alexander Grace Ltd
Altor Wealth Management LLP
Amber River
Antrams Financial Services LLP (part of Pembroke)
Asset Management Financial Advisers Ltd
BBT Group Ltd
Cantab Asset Management Ltd
Charles Stanley & Co Ltd
Chase de Vere
Cheetham Jackson Ltd
Chetwood Wealth Management Ltd
Clarity Ltd (Clarity Global)
Clayton Holmes Naisbitt Financial Consultancy LLP
Close Brothers
Continuum (Financial Services) LLP
Cox Financial Ltd
Craven Street Financial Planning Ltd
Douglas Steers & Co Ltd
Ellis Bates Wealth Management Ltd
Equilibrium Financial Planning
Equitas Financial (UK) Ltd
Estate Capital Financial Management Ltd
F-M
Fairstone
Fensham Howes Ltd
Financial Advice & Services Ltd
Flying Colours
Foster Denovo
Greystone Financial Services Ltd
Hargreaves Lansdown Advisory Services
HFMC Wealth
Hilltop Finance Ltd
Howard Wright Ltd
Humboldt Financial Ltd
In Partnership
Kerr Henderson
KMG Independent Ltd
Lonsdale Services Ltd
Lowes Financial Management Ltd
Lowndes Halsden & Partners Ltd
Lumin Wealth
Martin Aitken Financial Services Ltd
Mattioli Woods
McHardy Financial Ltd
MKC Wealth Ltd
Moore & Smalley LLP
Morgans Ltd
Murdoch Asset Management Ltd
N-Z
Oculus Wealth Management Ltd
Openwork
Origen
Paradigm Norton Financial Planning Ltd
Pareto Financial Planning Ltd
Pembroke Financial Services Ltd
Pen-Life Associates Ltd
Perspective
PI Financial Ltd
PJG Financial Services Ltd
Profile Financial Solutions Ltd
Quilter
Reeves Independent Ltd
Sandringham Financial Partners Ltd
Schofield Money Ltd
Skerritt Consultants Ltd
St James's Place Wealth Management plc
Strategic Solutions Financial Services
Tavistock
Tenet
The Fry Group
Timothy James & Partners Ltd
Validpath Ltd
Vintage Wealth Management
Vision Independent Financial Planning Ltd
Wade Financial Services Ltd
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 over 90 per cent of the UK’s intermediary fund flows.
Fund manager coverage is made up of over 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 displayed figures have been rounded to two significant figures and include assets invested in retail advisory investments and pensions
The top 100 list is created by first selecting the 150 largest firms by gross sales in the previous 12 months, July 2022 – June 2023 for the 2023 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 over £160mn were eligible for inclusion, compared with £175mn in 2022.
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 2023 AUM.
• Net % Score – Last 12 months (July 2022 to June 2023) Net-Sales percentage of June 2022 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 44 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 50.1 per cent of each adviser’s score.
• Net-flow accounted for an average of 23.4 per cent of each adviser’s score.
• Years of service accounted for an average of 8.6 per cent of each adviser’s score.
• Retention accounted for an average of 6 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 9.5 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 is a 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 market engagement platforms and the intelligence necessary to fully assess their target markets, identify and analyse the best opportunities within those markets, and execute initiatives to grow their business.
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