How many clients could an adviser advise, if the adviser didn't do everything?

2 hours ago

1 min read

Best, J. (2026, September 10). How many clients could an adviser advise, if the adviser didn't do everything? NextWealth. https://nextwealth.co.uk/how-many-clients-could-an-adviser-advise-if-the-adviser-didnt-do-everything/

NextWealth's new Financial Advice Business Benchmarks research found that the average number of clients managed by an adviser is 88.
A typical new client takes around 32 hours of staff time to onboard, and an existing client takes an average of 62 hours of ongoing support each year.
Only 15 of those 62 hours sit with the adviser, with the rest spread across paraplanners, research, client services, compliance and other roles.
One firm running 150 clients per adviser, with individual clients averaging around £400,000 of assets under advice, is now discussing 200 using AI tools.
Research from the United States found that adviser wellbeing peaks at around 50 clients for unsupported solo advisers and just under 100 for supported solo advisers.
Seven in ten FABB respondents expect adviser headcount to increase over the next year, and 47% expect more paraplanners to join the team.
Julie Best, insight director at NextWealth, said advice firms are redesigning the work rather than replacing people, using AI to reduce meeting admin, summaries and follow-up work.

Knote: We have run into advisors in the UK who are servicing 300 clients per advisor, but these numbers seem right. Technology to the rescue.