"Consumer Duty remains the biggest single driver of change in advice firms [...] Advisers said the ongoing requirement to monitor and evidence client outcomes is operationally demanding and has reduced their capacity to innovate."
The study, based on responses from 263 advice professionals, shows that adviser confidence remains broadly stable in 2025, averaging 3.9 out of 5. However, while confidence in client service (4.3) and people and capacity (4.2) remains high, technology (3.6) and markets and regulation (3.5) continue to lag behind – the two areas advisers identify as the most persistent challenges.
Advisers’ confidence in their personal career prospects has risen sharply this year, with 60% saying they feel fully confident about their future – up from 48% in 2024. NextWealth attributes this increase to growing use of AI tools that help cut administrative workloads and free up more time for client-facing work.
More than half of advisers now use AI for meeting summaries, suitability reports, and note-taking. However, many of these tools operate in isolation, creating additional steps to re-enter information into back-office systems. The report highlights that integration issues are undermining the efficiency gains promised by automation.
Heather Hopkins, managing director at NextWealth, said: “Growth, where it is organic, remains a central theme in 2025. What’s new is the shift from coping with regulation to tuning the advice engine for the road ahead. However, poor data quality remains a sticking point for realising the admin efficiencies tech and AI can offer. Poor data quality is to efficiencies what driving with the handbrake on is to fuel economy.”
Three years after its introduction, the Consumer Duty remains the biggest single driver of change in advice firms, cited by 45% of respondents. Advisers said the ongoing requirement to monitor and evidence client outcomes is operationally demanding and has reduced their capacity to innovate.
The Retirement Income Advice Review (RIAR) is also influencing behaviour, as firms adapt processes to ensure consistent retirement recommendations. Despite regulatory efforts to open access to advice, targeted support has yet to gain traction: only 4% of firms said they are exploring it as a service, while nearly half said they have no plans to offer it.
NextWealth’s analysis concludes that while technology adoption and automation are expanding rapidly, adviser firms remain constrained by data quality and regulatory burden.
Hopkins added: “Regulation, policy change and client expectations alter the external conditions. The firms that are thriving are those with an engine they can fine-tune in response – clear playbooks, clean MI, and a bias for simpler, reliable components. Consumer Duty remains the biggest driver of change, and ongoing monitoring and evidencing obligations are denting confidence.”
