Good morning and welcome to your Morning Briefing for Friday 7 November 2025. To get this in your inbox every morning click here.
Platforum: Organic growth in an AI world
Organic growth is becoming a top strategic priority for UK financial advice firms, writes Mariam Pourshoushtari, an analyst at Platforum.
Demonstrating client and revenue growth has become a more important barometer of business value, whether firms are large consolidators backed by provate equity (PE) or small firms with an eye on a future sale.
While most advice businesses often gain more clients than they lose, they typically generate only modest levels of new business. The principal constraint for most advice firms isn’t demand for their services – it’s capacity.
From the archives: What financial services needs from the new government
Back in July 2024, in the immediate aftermath of the general election, we picked four areas that would most benefit from reform: regulation, tax, Isas and pensions.
We spoke to experts in each case and identified the low-hanging fruit that is ripe for picking. Then we put forward some proposals that should be on the shopping list of the new government.
Ahead of what could be the most consequential Budget in years, it’s a good time to look back on those proposals to see where we’ve made progress and where work still needs to be done.
Quote Of The Day
While some parts of the economy may need support to stimulate growth, the Bank is balancing this against broader inflationary pressures
– Maike Currie, VP of personal finance at PensionBee, comments on the Bank of England’s decision to hold interest rates at 4% following three cuts earlier this year
Stat Attack
The UK’s SIPP market has surged past two major milestones, according to new analysis from MoretoSIPPs.
The consultancy, led by industry veteran John Moret, reports that the market now exceeds six million investors and is approaching £650bn in assets, with the figure likely to reach £700bn by the end of 2025.
Key statistics:
Over six million
The number of SIPP investors, representing a significant share of the UK’s private pension market.
Almost £650bn
Amount of SIPP assets, with estimates suggesting this could be closer to £700bn, or over 20% of total UK funded pension assets.
Over 90%
Percentage of SIPPs that are “streamlined” products, typically offering standard investments operated by platforms and life companies.
Around £120bn
Amount held in “complex” SIPPs, across just over 300,000 investors with wider-range investment options.
Nearly 70%
Percentage of SIPPs that are non-advised, a proportion that continues to rise each year.
Only one in eight
SIPP investors have vested their benefits, leaving over £500bn of assets yet to vest.
£750bn
Amount the SIPP market is forecast to exceed by 2030, though growth could slow and even reverse beyond that point.
Source: MoretoSIPPs
In Other News
Fortem Capital has strengthened its investment team with the appointment of Andrew Warwick as senior portfolio manager, marking the firm’s third senior hire this year.
Warwick joins the London-based liquid alternatives specialist from Newton Investment Management, where he was portfolio manager and co-head of real return strategies.
He previously spent more than two decades at BlackRock, Mercury Fund Managers and Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, bringing 33 years of investment management experience in multi-asset and derivative-based strategies for institutional investors.
Established in 2017 by former global markets investment bankers, Fortem has made nine appointments across the business in 2025 as it continues to expand its investment capabilities.
Warwick will contribute to the management of Fortem’s growing range of funds and help design new products for institutional clients.
Chief investment officer Kevin Gray said Warwick’s technical expertise and collaborative approach “align perfectly with Fortem’s culture and ambitions”.
Labour’s new deputy chief warns Reeves not to break election vow (Bloomberg)
China’s clean-energy revolution will reshape markets and politics (The Economist)
Tesla shareholders approve $1tn pay package for Elon Musk (The Guardian)
Did You See?
As a financial planner and – I flatter myself – human, I’ve always felt conflicted and frustrated by the limits of my usefulness to people out there in the real world. Particularly young people, who we still struggle to appeal to, and to fit into a regulated advice offering.
The problem is acute. Thirty eight per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds feel confident managing money, according to the Money and Pensions Service.
We all know about the challenges around scaling advice, though. Regulatory intervention has been good at making sure firms can demonstrate the value they provide to the (very small) number of clients who can, and want to, pay for advice.
But it’s also embedding the reality that providing financial advice is a niche and fundamentally high touch offering. It’s cranked up the time spent on client files and advice fees. You can see the issue here.
Read the full article by Greg Moss, founder of Eleven.2 Financial Planning.
