NextWealth Fee Benchmarking Report is an annual study analysing how financial advice is priced in the UK.

It benchmarks the fees charged by advice firms, examines how charging structures are designed and explores the typical costs paid by clients. The research draws on data from financial advice firms and UK consumers who have received paid-for financial advice.

Why this research matters

As regulatory and operating costs rise, many advice firms are reviewing their fee structures. Pricing decisions are increasingly considered through the lens of what clients value most — including trust, experience and the reassurance that comes from ongoing financial advice.

Combining adviser-reported data with client insight, this report benchmarks the fees charged for financial advice, examines how firms structure their charging models, tracks emerging trends and explores how clients judge the value they receive.

Key findings

• The average ongoing advice fee charged by advisers in 2026 at 83 bps, up from 77 bps the from 2025.
• One in five (20%) of advisers polled for the report say that they plan to increase their initial fees in the next 12 months.
• More than half of advisers (51%) say AI will allow them to provide more value for the same advice fees.
• Client satisfaction is highest among those who say they fully understand their fee structure – with 97% of this cohort rating the value for money as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’.

Who is the report for

• Financial advice firms– to benchmark how their charging structures and fee levels compare with peers across the market.
• Providers (platforms, asset managers and technology firms)– to understand how advice fees are evolving and the implications for distribution, pricing and adviser relationships.

What does the report cover

This report examines three core questions:

1. How advice fees are evolving – Changes in advice fees, trends in initial and ongoing advice charges, fee structures and how total client costs are managed across advice, fund and platform components.
2. What is driving change – The factors influencing fee change, including shifts in regulation and approaches to delivering advice. It also considers how firms are responding through pricing decisions, service design and the use of technology, including AI.
3. How clients experience and judge value – The research also explores how clients understand advice fees and the factors shaping their perception of value, including trust, ongoing communication and how fee increases are viewed in a period of rising inflation.

Methodology

• The data in this report is based on a mixed research methodology, including 20 data requests to large UK financial advice firms and an online survey of 545 UK financial advisers fielded in Q3 2025 and Q1 2026 (referenced as 2026 in the report) as well as historic financial adviser survey comparison with a historic comparison from 566 advisers fielded in Q3 2024 and Q1 2025 (referenced as 2025).
• This report also includes views from 261 financial advice clients via online survey who have paid for advice in the last 12 months, each with £100,000 or more in investable assets. The survey was fielded in January, 2026 and also has a historic comparison with a survey of 207 clients fielded in February, 2025.
• Additionally, NextWealth conducted five in-depth interviews with clients receiving ongoing financial advice, exploring views, experiences and their sentiments around the fees they pay for financial advice.

Complete the form to the right to download the sample report and see what is included in the full report.

Have a question or would like to purchase a copy? Get in touch at enquiries@nextwealth.co.uk.

Authors

Emma Napier, Consulting Director at NextWealth

Alex Johnson, Quantitative Researcher at NextWealth

Philip Leigh, Senior Qualitative Researcher at NextWealth

Suggested citation

NextWealth, March 2026. Fee Benchmarking Report 2026. https://nextwealth.co.uk/research/fee-benchmarking-report-2026/.