Financial Planning firms have seen the number of clients they are advising hold relatively steady this year, according to our recently published 2026 annual survey of Financial Planning Today readers.
The survey is published in the latest issue of Financial Planning Today magazine which is out now.
It reveals that the 101-499 clients bracket continues to be the most common number of clients for a firm, with 34% of readers falling within the bracket.
Just over half (54%) of those surveyed said they had fewer than 500 clients, a figure that has been holding steady since 2022.
The number of readers whose firms served more than 2,000 clients held steady at just over 20%, a figure topped for the first time last year. In 2026 21% of readers were working in firms with 2,000 or more clients compared to 23% in 2025.
There was a slight drop in the number of larger firms looking after more than 1,000 clients. In total 30% of Financial Planners said they worked in a firm with more than 1,000 clients, compared to 31% last year.
The latest FCA data suggests that the typical financial adviser firm in the UK has 150 clients per adviser. Taking that and applying it to the Financial Planning Today survey would suggest that around half of readers have between one and three advisers working within their firms, and around a third had more than six advisers.
When trying to get a clearer idea of the picture at Financial Planning firms in 2026, the survey also asked readers about their average annual fee income per adviser. This year the picture was more mixed than seen in 2025.
Two in five readers (39%) said average annual fee income per adviser was under £100,000 in comparison to just over a quarter (26%) last year. The number of firms with average annual fee income per adviser of between £101,000 and £300,000 fell from more than half (2025: 56%) to 36%.
The number of firms reporting average adviser annual fee income of between £301,000 and £500,000 was up slightly at 19% (2025: 15%). An impressive 6% of firms reported average adviser fee income of more than £500,000, double the number in 2025 when it stood at just 3%.
When looking at the latest FCA analysis of its investment adviser returns in 2025, total annual average fee income typically sits between £250,000 and £300,000.
With the Personal Finance Society (PFS) continuing to come under scrutiny due to the nature of its relationship with parent trade body The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII), in recent years the survey has seen membership of rival trade body the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investments (CISI) grow.
The trend appears to have slowed with 25% of readers being members of the CISI, the same percentage as last year. The Personal Finance Society continues to be the most popular professional body by far, with 58% of readers holding membership in 2026, a slight dip (2025: 63%). Half (49%) of readers were also members of the parent body the CII.
Among other professional bodies, Financial Planning Today readers were members of were: LIBF (17%), SOLLA (8%), STEP (6%), the CFA (5%) and PIMFA (2%). The figures were all broadly in line with previous years.
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