Keith Richards, chief executive of the Consumer Duty Alliance, said while there are no real surprises in the data, it did validate concerns of a potential adviser gap to meet the ongoing needs of existing clients, let alone address the advice-gap for new clients.
"The data from FCA provides evidence that we are heading for an adviser-gap, as numbers have shifted up the age bands with over fifty percent now aged 50 years or over and over half of that population well into their 60s," he said.
"The stark reality is that the statistics also show that the sector has seen few new advisers enter the profession, as the age 29 years and under categories have reduced by 59 per cent, compared to two years ago.
"We would like to see FCA include gender and ethnicity within their future statistics to help bring greater focus on diversity and inclusion."
Richards added more needed to be done to attract young advisers as academies do not focus solely on graduates or apprenticeships, as the second career market has always been the main supply of new talent.
He said: "The Consumer Duty Alliance is currently in the process of launching a New Talent Alliance Forum to collectively work on strategies that will attract new blood to the profession, create good practice sharing and augment the role of academies and the various routes to a professional career in personal finance.
"As succession planning through consolidation vehicles is showing some signs of slowing, we are seeing a revived interest to succession to develop the next generation within the same firm and the Alliance aims to offer support to small firms via our Affiliate network."
Last month, FT Adviser revealed the number of firms authorised to provide retail investment advice had fallen from 6,240 in August 2022 to 5,805 as at February 2024.
This meant 435 firms have disappeared from Britain, and represented a drop of 7 per cent in as little as 18 months.
amy.austin@ft.com
