The UK-based wealth, banking and brokerage industry – holding £1.5 trillion ($2.1 trillion) of private client assets – cannot rest on its laurels but shows encouraging signs of rising revenue, according to a new study from and exclusively reported by WealthBriefing today.
The latest 52-page State of UK Wealth Management Report (based on data collected from wealth management firms throughout 2025) highlights that sector costs rose 6.6 per cent year-on-year. Revenues rose 4.8 per cent; pre-tax profits dipped 0.8 per cent; investment assets rose 10.2 per cent and staffing gained by 2.8 per cent. Private banks remain the largest contributors to overall industry revenue.
(To register for a copy of the full report, click here.)
Staff costs for wealth managers and execution-only (XO) stockbrokers rose by a total of 9.2 per cent year-over-year. The survey shows that the biggest uplifts for departmental costs are in areas of compliance, operations and marketing.
The findings come at a time when the UK’s industry faces challenges and opportunities from new technologies such as AI, rising compliance demands such as the 2023 Consumer Duty regulatory regime, demand for advice from citizens concerned about rising taxes and economic uncertainties, and the continued heavy transfer of wealth across the generations.
The report’s findings and data are “critical for strategy, for HR, for operations, CEOs and chief financial officers. This is a treasure trove of information for people so they can run their businesses better,” Bruce Weatherill (pictured below), BWC Benchmarking chairman, told this publication.
Bruce Weatherill
The report highlights what “best” looks like for the wealth management industry, Weatherill said. The challenging domestic UK environment and policy changes – such as on tax – add weight to the case for high-quality wealth advice, which overall is positive for the industry.
Weatherill noted that client onboarding remains a “major issue for wealth managers” and pointed out that “the importance of better reporting is gaining ground.”
A standout feature of the study is how outflows are now at record high levels – £123 billion – while there were £222 billion of inflows. Clients demand more in terms of service, and firms cannot be sure that their clients will stick to one provider over the long term.
The 162 firms covered by the survey achieved £10.4 billion of revenue, but the headline figure masks considerable variety – some businesses made a significant gain while others trod water or lost money. Organisations have invested in technology and people, denting profit margins – at least for some time. If asset levels continue to rise, firms should see their average margins rise above the 25 per cent seen in previous years, the report says.
Among the details, the report notes: “Some of the most encouraging results for the industry came by way of good year-on-year growth in investment management fees (up 8.0 per cent across all firms) and commissions (up 14.9 per cent). This is a more sustainable business model, relying on growth in fees and commissions.”
Fees are under pressure, affected by standardisation of services, competition and more transparency, the report says. Another data point shows that firms are cutting their reliance on net interest income.
In analysing the overall picture of rising costs, the BWC Benchmarking report says that the only sector that bucked that trend was the “full-service wealth managers” group, although the data has been affected by mergers and acquisitions. For most firms, costs continue to rise and often faster than revenue growth.
The research includes 23 private banks; 97 private client investment managers; 30 full-service wealth managers, and 12 execution-only stockbrokers. BWC Benchmarking was formed in 2025 after it bought the assets and rights of Compeer.
The report noted how London-centric the wealth sector is, as home to 73 per cent of UK firms (119), with other cities such as Manchester, Edinburgh, Leeds, Bristol and Birmingham proving to be focal points for firms.
James Brown, CEO of BWC Benchmarking and author of the report, said: “UK wealth management remains an extremely resilient industry, with fascinating results to track, as records continue to be broken. There are no signs of the growth slowing in the near future, but the margin compression witnessed by the majority of firms and the lack of scalable results casts concerns across the sector and we expect large changes going forward.”
(Weatherill is also chairman of ClearView Financial Media, publisher of this news service.)