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The popularity of budget investing apps and platforms such as Freetrade and Trading 212 has encouraged more people across Britain to put their money into the markets. But the surge in DIY investing has not been matched by a similar rise in people seeking professional financial advice.
Around one in three people in the UK now invests, while the number of self-directed investment accounts has climbed 19 per cent in a year, according to financial research site Boring Money.
That rapid growth has left many investors potentially needing help but not getting it. Known as the advice gap, the number of adults who could benefit from support has grown from 12million to 14.6million in 2026, Boring Money says.
Even so, half of Britons with assets worth at least £10,000 say they do not feel they need a financial adviser. Yet shifts in charging structures, new technology, regulation and the wider range of support now available could help narrow that divide.
For many people, traditional full financial advice may not be necessary. A lighter-touch option such as financial guidance, money coaching or more targeted support may be enough to help them make better decisions.
Here, we break down the different types of financial help available, what a regulated financial adviser can do, how to find one, how to compare fees, and the key questions to ask before becoming a client.
Costs matter: Keeping charges as low as possible is vital, as high fees can steadily reduce your overall wealth
What does a financial adviser do?
A financial adviser helps you manage your money. They should be someone who’s qualified and will improve your financial situation in the long run.
There are around 31,000 advisers in the UK, according to the UK’s financial services regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
An adviser can work out a plan for your future, looking at everything related to your finances – from savings and investments to pensions, tax and insurance. This longer-term approach is commonly called financial planning.
Alternatively, you could find one to help with a single aspect of your finances, like how to withdraw money from your pension at retirement.
You could work with them on an ongoing basis, paying fees for regular meetings and updates on your pot of money, with the adviser adjusting your plan as necessary.
Otherwise you can get one-off financial advice, paying a single fee to help with a particular financial issue.
They must be authorised by the FCA. You can check their status by using the Financial Services Register, which should tell you whether a firm or individual is:
- authorised and regulated to give advice
- permitted to provide the service they’re giving to you
- scamming you by using a real adviser’s details – only use contact details listed on the register
> Read more: Is financial advice worth it?
Do you need financial advice?
Many people would benefit from financial advice. But it’s most useful during significant life events and changes or when your financial situation becomes more complex.
These could include getting married, starting a business, getting divorced, or moving overseas. You might also need it when coming into a significant sum of money that you don’t know what to do with.
It’s also important to be clear about the type of financial support you’re looking for. Nowadays you can see different flavours advertised, such as financial guidance and financial coaching.
There’s also a new service that providers can offer called targeted support. This lets them suggest which products or services to use based on more limited information about your circumstances, like your age and goals.
For example, if you’re young and looking to invest a lump sum of money, an investment platform could suggest using a stocks and shares Isa and a higher-risk ready-made portfolio of investments.
The problem is that targeted support only launched in April 2026 and just 13 firms have applied for permission to offer it, as of July 2026. It’s possible that the scheme will take some time to be implemented widely.
> Read more: How to choose the right investment platform
What is the difference between financial advice, guidance and coaching?
- Financial advice: The full-fat option that’s tailored to your circumstances – the adviser recommends products and what you should do and charges a fee.
- Financial guidance: This is usually free but limited as it’s not specific to your situation. Instead, you’ll only be given general information about financial topics and no recommendations.
- Financial coaching: A coach can give you information and drill down into your relationship with money, keeping you focused on your goals. But they’re not regulated to recommend specific products or strategies. You’ll usually need to pay a fee.
- Targeted support: A service that makes a recommendation based on what is likely to be a good option for someone like you. This bridges the gap between guidance and advice, because it can recommend a specific investment.
Can you get specialist financial advice?
You can find a financial adviser to help with specific issues. These might include:
- Pensions and retirement: A professional can talk through your options, including taking a tax-free lump sum, pension drawdown while remaining invested, and exchanging part or all your pot for an annuity.
- Tax planning: Specialists can help with inheritance tax planning, as well as how to remain as tax efficient as possible when it comes to income tax, capital gains tax and tax on dividends.
- Long-term care: A financial adviser can help you work out how best to pay for care if you expect to need it in old age. They can also advise on options for managing your financial situation more generally as you get older.
- Investments: An investment adviser can develop a plan to put your assets to work, based on your goals and attitude to risk.
- Insurance and protection: An adviser can recommend insurance that protects you against unexpected events, for example illness or redundancy.
How much money do you need to work with a financial adviser?
Although there’s lots of talk about the advice gap, many financial advisers won’t actually work with people with smaller pots.
For example, Lloyds Wealth requires £100,000 in savings, investments or pensions, or £100,000 of sole annual income.
Fidelity also requires a minimum of £100,000 to invest, and Interactive Investor says its financial advice is right for those with at least £100,000.
Canaccord Wealth says it typically provides financial advice to clients with over £250,000 of investable assets.
Even without a specific restriction, some financial advisers charge flat fees that are expensive for people with more modest portfolios.
For example, JPMorgan Personal Investing charges £900 for its entry-level financial advice.
If you have £30,000 of assets, this works out as 3 per cent, which is at the top end of the typical 1 to 3 per cent stated by guidance website MoneyHelper.
Even if you have £50,000 of assets, this fee comes to a relatively high 1.8 per cent.
How to find a financial adviser
A good first port of call is to ask for recommendations from people you trust – friends, family and colleagues.
Recommendations might also come from other professionals and experts you’ve worked with before, like your solicitor or accountant.
Otherwise you can use online directories to find a financial adviser, similar to how Checkatrade matches you with local tradespeople. You can search for advisers in your area or enter your details to have financial advisers contact you. You can try:
Advisers pay these websites to have detailed listings appear in the search results – although this doesn’t influence how they’re ranked – and to accept enquiries from people searching for advice.
The Personal Finance Society, the trade body for financial planners, has a search tool you can use to find financial advice. The Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment (CISI) also has its own tool called Wayfinder.
The government-backed financial information website MoneyHelper offers non-personalised financial guidance.
This includes its Pension Wise service for those reaching retirement age, which should help you understand your options.
Restricted advice v independent financial advice
When meeting with a financial adviser for the first time, ask whether they offer restricted or independent advice.
In the example of JPMorgan Personal Investing, it offers restricted advice, which means it only makes investment recommendations around the products and services it offers.
Working with a restricted adviser doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get bad recommendations. It’s just that they’re more limited in what they can recommend – and you might find cheaper or better-performing products and services elsewhere.
Meanwhile, independent advisers look at products and services from the whole market when making recommendations.
Citizens Advice says it’s usually best to look for independent advice because of the wider choice.
What to ask before working with an adviser
Many financial advisers offer a free initial consultation, so you can use this to ask all the questions you need to before going ahead.
You can also use this meeting to look for red flags that might lead you to say no to a continuing relationship. You should find out:
Their qualifications. Financial advisers must have at least a level 4 qualification in financial advice recognised by the FCA.
The level of advice offered. Ask whether it’s independent or restricted, and whether they can give advice on a range of financial issues.
The range of products they can recommend. An independent financial adviser should look at the whole market, so check that they can truly recommend what’s best for your situation.
How they communicate. Practically this means whether they’ll work with you face-to-face, over video call, or in writing, so think about what you’d prefer. However also listen out for jargon. Good financial advisers should try to explain complex topics in a clear and straightforward way.
How they charge you. You might pay flat fees, hourly rates or fees as a percentage of your assets. You should also find out whether the adviser gets paid commission, although this is only allowed on non-investment services such as insurance.
How do fees eat into your overall wealth?
Finding out more about the fees your financial adviser charges is very important. This is because there are often layers of charges, such as:
- Advice fee: How much you’re being charged for financial advice and recommendations on what to do. MoneyHelper says that ongoing advice can cost between 0.5 and 1 per cent a year.
- Platform or account fee: If your financial adviser recommends investment products, you’ll need to pay investment platform fees. This is usually percentage based – often between 0.15 per cent and 0.35 per cent annually – but some platforms charge flat fees.
- Fund management fees: The cost of managing your underlying investments. You don’t pay these directly. Instead, the investment management firm takes them from the fund, impacting growth. Fees vary a lot, with expensive actively managed investments reaching more than 1 per cent annually.
Assuming you’ll be charged on a percentage basis as in the example above, ongoing fees could reach up to 2 per cent or more.
If your investments achieve average growth of around 7 per cent a year, high fees eat into that return. And that’s without even considering the effect of inflation, which hits growth further.
You should think carefully about whether you actually need ongoing advice or whether you’re simply happy to pay for it on a one-off basis. You can then manage your investments yourself using a low-cost do-it-yourself platform.
If you’re building a retirement pot, we have a guide to the best platforms for self-invested personal pensions (Sipps) to help you choose one.
