Our Approach to Sustainability at IDEX Consulting

Key Salary Benchmarks and Market Insights Across Insurance, Financial Services, and Legal

Salary benchmarking is no longer simply an HR exercise. In markets where specialist talent directly influences revenue, client retention and growth, getting compensation wrong can become a commercial constraint. Strong hiring intentions across Insurance and Financial Services, and Legal market exist alongside persistent shortages of suitable talent. In this context, salary benchmarks are most valuable when they help hiring managers, HR and finance leaders, answer the bigger questions. Questions like; do our compensation packages help the business secure the capability it needs to grow? Or are they quietly making attraction, retention and succession more difficult? When organisations lose critical talent, or struggle to hire into growth roles, that affects revenue generation, client relationships and strategic execution. The most valuable salary data helps organisations understand whether their reward strategy is enabling or restricting business growth. IDEX’s Salary Guide brings together salary and market intelligence covering more than 600 roles across 40 specialisms in General Insurance, Financial Services and Legal, Risk & Compliance to help you answer those questions. What Leaders Need To Know About Salary Benchmarking For hiring managers, the crucial information is not whether salaries are rising or falling. Different markets, locations and specialisms are always moving at different speeds. Effective salary benchmarks therefore need context. A national average can be useful, but it becomes less useful when a business is competing for a scarce specialist class underwriter in London, an experienced Financial Adviser, or a Partner with a portable practice. That is why benchmarking should consider role, geography, seniority, technical scarcity and the wider reward package, alongside the commercial value of leaving a role unfilled. Many organisations review salaries only when hiring. However, salary benchmarking can also be useful as part of a retention strategy. Employees with specialist knowledge, client relationships or revenue responsibility represent significant business value. Without accurate market insight, organisations may discover too late that their reward strategy is no longer competitive. Effective benchmarking helps leaders identify retention risks before they become recruitment problems.General Insurance: Competition Remains Concentrated Around High-Value Talent IDEX found that 79% of General Insurance employers plan to hire over the next 12 months, yet 61% believe a shortage of suitable applicants will be their biggest recruitment challenge. In specialist insurance markets, losing experienced professionals can cause recruitment costs to increase while client relationships, technical expertise and revenue opportunities are placed under pressure. Account Executives and Account Handlers were the roles most frequently identified as in demand. Salary increases reflect demand, with around 70% of professionals reporting rises of 2.5%–10% or more. Benchmark against the talent you actually need to secure, rather than the broad market average.What is a competitive salary for senior insurance professionals? There is no single insurance professional salary that defines the senior market. IDEX’s 2026 data illustrates how significantly compensation changes by responsibility, experience and location. In the London insurance broking market, for example, the guide benchmarks Account Directors with nine or more years’ experience at around £150,000, Producing Brokers at around £200,000 and Heads of Broking at £150,000–£200,000. Those figures should be treated as market reference points rather than universal rates; individual compensation will depend on production, portfolio, specialism and wider incentives. Want the full picture? Explore the IDEX Salary Guide for detailed salary benchmarks across General Insurance, alongside hiring intentions, skills demand and market sentiment.Financial Services: Skills Shortages Are Becoming A Growth Issue The biggest concern in Financial Services is talent supply. 86% of Financial Services employers intend to hire, while 74% do not believe they currently have the talent required to achieve their business objectives. Paraplanners and Financial Advisers are particularly sought after. In areas such as wealth management, salary benchmarking is increasingly linked to succession planning. Where experienced advisers and technical specialists are difficult to replace, understanding market expectations becomes critical to protecting future growth. What are current salary benchmarks in insurance and financial services? The answer depends heavily on specialism and location. Alongside the senior Insurance examples above, current IDEX Financial Services vacancies show the breadth of the market. Recent roles include a Financial Adviser at £65,000–£80,000 and a Paraplanner at £60,000–£70,000[Richard M2.1] outside London. These are live-market examples rather than universal bands, which is why role-specific Financial Services salary benchmarks are more useful than a single sector average. For organisations engaged in compensation benchmarking for Financial Services teams, the cost of increasing a package has to be considered against the revenue capacity, client relationships and succession risk attached to an unfilled position. Want the full picture? Explore the IDEX Salary Guide for detailed salary benchmarks across Financial Services, alongside hiring intentions, skills demand and market sentiment.Legal: Salary Remains Important, But The Market Is More Nuanced IDEX’s Legal salary guide benchmarks private practice and in-house roles across the UK, US and Middle East rather than treating “legal” as one market. Our research points to significant competitive pressure with 96% of Legal leaders reported challenges attracting skilled talent, while half were planning new permanent hires. We are also seeing continued salary inflation, particularly among US firms. At senior levels, compensation is only one part of the decision. Career opportunity, platform, culture and long-term progression all influence whether experienced professionals remain or move. How do Legal sector salaries compare to Financial Services? Both can become six-figure markets at senior levels, but a direct comparison can be misleading. Financial Services compensation is often shaped by qualifications, client responsibility, revenue generation and variable reward. Legal pay is heavily influenced by PQE, geography, practice area, private practice versus in-house experience and, increasingly, the type of firm competing for the same lawyer. Want the full picture? Explore the IDEX Salary Guide for detailed salary benchmarks across Legal, alongside hiring intentions, skills demand and market sentiment.Understanding Talent Value During Business ChangeM&A activity can create significant changes in workforce requirements. Whether organisations are integrating acquisitions, building new leadership capability or preparing for growth, understanding the market value of critical talent becomes increasingly important. Salary benchmarking supports these decisions by helping businesses assess whether they can attract the people required to deliver their strategic objectives. For organisations experiencing change, the challenge is rarely just identifying available talent. It is understanding what expertise is required, how competitive the market has become and what losing key individuals could mean for future performance.How Should Leaders Approach Salary Benchmarking? The strongest benchmarking decisions combine market data with business context. Rather than asking whether a salary is “above” or “below” average, consider whether the package is competitive for the specific talent pool, how difficult that capability is to replace and what delayed hiring could mean for revenue, client delivery or strategic execution. That also means looking beyond base salary. Bonus structure, flexibility, progression, equity, long-term incentives and leadership opportunity can all change how competitive an offer feels. Used this way, salary benchmarks become a useful workforce-planning tool that gives HR, finance and hiring leaders a shared evidence base for investment decisions.Build A Salary Strategy Around The Market You Are Competing InGood benchmarking is not about paying more by default. It is about knowing when the market has moved, where talent is genuinely scarce and where compensation may be preventing the business from securing or retaining the people it needs. IDEX combines current salary data with specialist market knowledge across Insurance, Financial Services, and Legal markets to help organisations make those decisions with greater confidence. Whether you are planning growth, protecting key talent or building succession plans, salary benchmarking provides the market intelligence needed to make confident workforce decisions. IDEX can help you benchmark your team’s salaries and turn that insight into a practical hiring and retention strategy.Talk to a consultant today.

Building the Next- Generation of Financial Advisers and Chartered Financial Planners

The next generation of Financial Advisers and Chartered Financial Planners represents one of the biggest opportunities for wealth management and financial planning firms looking to grow. As businesses expand, evolve their client propositions and plan for the future, developing a strong pipeline of advice talent is becoming an critical part of their growth strategy. Experienced professionals will continue to play a vital role in helping firms deliver for clients today. But, combining access to established planning capabilities with new pathways for developing talent will give firms more options for building the capacity and expertise they need. At IDEX, we believe and implement the strongest talent strategies to help firms create the capability to achieve their future ambitions. Here’s where should financial planning businesses focus to build a sustainable pipeline of future advisers.Why financial advice firms need talent from non-traditional routesThe average UK financial adviser is now in their late 40s, and just 12% are under 30. That means that while there is currently a wealth of experienced professionals available, relying almost exclusively on recruiting proven advisers from competitors does little to increase the overall supply of talent.Both succession planning and structured early-career pathways are important to sustainable future growth. But, the problem isn’t limited to replacing retiring advisers. Advice firms are simultaneously considering growth, acquisition, new technology and evolving service models. That places greater importance on having enough capable people to serve clients without continually stretching existing teams. 31.5% of UK advice professionals work more than a standard 35-to-40-hour week, and up to two-thirds of the average 9.2 hours required to take a client through the advice process was spent away from the client. Demand for adviser capacity creates opportunities to rethink how teams are structured and supported. Recruiting another experienced Chartered Financial Planner will solve the immediate capacity problem. Building multiple routes through which future planners can develop addresses the longer-term one.Build a Talent Pipeline that Supports Your Growth AmbitionsBuilding a strong adviser pipeline isn't about choosing between experienced hires and developing future talent. It's about bringing both approaches together to support immediate business needs and longer-term growth, while creating opportunities to attract, develop and retain the professionals who will shape your business's future. At IDEX, we partner with financial planning and wealth management businesses to understand their growth ambitions and the talent they'll need to achieve them. Through a combination of retained search, contingency recruitment and targeted marketing, we help firms connect with experienced advisers who can deliver immediate value, while identifying emerging talent with the potential to support future growth. Our approach goes beyond individual vacancies. By building long-term relationships with professionals across the market and nurturing pipelines over a long period of time, we help clients stay connected to valuable talent, anticipate future hiring requirements and create opportunities to engage the right people when the time is right. Whether you're expanding your advice team, planning for succession or exploring new routes to develop future advisers, IDEX combines specialist market insight, established relationships and flexible recruitment solutions to support your ambitions. Unlock Opportunities through Second-Career ChangersSecond-career professionals can bring commercial maturity, relationship skills and experience of navigating complex personal or business conversations to financial planning and advice roles. Candidates moving from banking, accountancy, professional services or other relationship-led environments may already possess many of the behaviours that effective advisers need. And, other skills, such as AI, automation and technology capabilities may be easier to bring into financial planning from outside industries, than to develop solely through a traditional adviser career path. Someone coming from a technology-enabled environment, for example, may bring a level of digital confidence that becomes increasingly valuable as advice firms integrate AI, automation and new client platforms into everyday workflows. That does not diminish the importance of technical financial planning expertise. The technical gap still needs to be closed through the appropriate qualifications, structured Financial Adviser training, supervision and experience. But firms should distinguish between the capabilities that must be developed within financial planning and those that can be successfully transferred into it. With specialist knowledge across financial services and wealth management, IDEX helps firms look beyond conventional recruitment pathways to identify professionals with the transferable skills, needed to succeed in financial advice. By taking a broader view of the talent market, we can help businesses explore new sources of potential while continuing to access experienced advisers who can make an immediate impact.Build adviser capability through structured training and academiesAdviser academies are one of the clearest opportunities to change the supply equation. Effective Financial Adviser training gives firms the ability to recruit for attributes that are harder to identify through an experienced-hire-only strategy Judgement Communication Curiosity Commercial awareness Ability to establish trusted relationships Effective academies combine technical learning with practical exposure and mentoring. That might include observing client meetings, working alongside experienced advisers, progressing through controlled client responsibility and receiving structured feedback as capability develops. Done well, this allows firms to create advisers around the standards, proposition and client experience they want to deliver rather than continually searching for someone already shaped by another business. It also makes workforce planning more deliberate. Firms can think about the number of advisers they will need in three or five years and begin creating that capacity before vacancies become urgent. Specialist recruitment support can then be invaluable in identifying candidates with the transferable behaviours, commercial awareness and relationship skills needed to succeed in financial advice.Make Qualifications Part of your Growth StrategyQualifications should be viewed as part of progression architecture, rather than an entry requirement. For aspiring advisers, the Level 4 Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning provides a recognised route towards meeting FCA qualification requirements. Further development can then create a pathway towards the Advanced Diploma and ultimately Chartered Financial Planner status. That gives leadership teams an opportunity to make the Chartered Financial Planner qualification part of a visible long-term career proposition. Instead of recruiting only once somebody has achieved the required level, firms can identify employees capable of reaching it and support them through study, examination, experience and development. That also strengthens the employee proposition. A talented paraplanner or client-service professional is more likely to see a future inside the organisation if the steps from their current position to adviser, senior planner and potentially Chartered Financial Planner are visible and genuinely achievable.Use Mentoring to Turn Knowledge Into CapabilityQualifications establish technical knowledge but they cannot replicate years of judgement developed through client conversations. That is why mentoring should sit alongside formal Financial Adviser training. Experienced advisers hold valuable institutional knowledge and soft skills: How to manage emotionally difficult conversations Recognising when a client has misunderstood something Challenging assumptions without damaging trust Navigating the difference between a technically correct recommendation and one that genuinely works for an individual Transferring that knowledge should be part of succession planning rather than something that happens informally when time allows. For firms with a strong base of highly experienced professionals available, mentoring creates an opportunity to transfer capability before that experience eventually leaves the business.Create Adviser Pathways From WithinSome of the strongest prospective advisers may already be inside the business. Paraplanning, client-service and operations professionals can all develop considerable knowledge of the firm and its customers without having previously considered advice as their destination. Not everyone should become an adviser, nor should progression into advice be presented as the only valuable career route. But firms should be able to identify those who have the ambition and capability to do so. That creates a renewable pipeline of advisers who already understand the firm's culture, clients, systems and standards. Looking to grow your advice team or strengthen your future talent pipeline? Let’s explore how IDEX can support your next stage of growth. Speak to our Financial Services team.

Financial Services Monthly Market Update: October 2026

The wealth management and financial advice sector continues to evolve, creating new opportunities for firms to expand their services, strengthen client relationships and invest in future growth. As client needs become more complex, particularly around pensions and tax, having the right people and capabilities in place is increasingly important. At the same time, investment in transformation, acquisitions and new capabilities is creating opportunities for firms to strengthen their teams and build for the future. Realising the full value of that growth depends on retaining experienced professionals while developing the next generation of talent. The common thread is talent: where firms find it, how they develop it, and if their workforce strategy can keep pace with their ambition. In this month’s update, we look at the market shifts shaping those priorities across financial planning and wealth management.IDEX insight: what this month’s market activity meansBeneath this month’s headlines lies a significant opportunity for wealth management and financial planning firms: building the adviser capability needed to support their next stage of growth. Experienced financial advisers will continue to play a vital role in helping firms meet immediate client needs, while developing new routes into the profession can create additional capacity and strengthen long-term succession planning. As consolidation continues and businesses acquire new client books, expand their Financial Planning propositions and invest in future growth, a broader approach to talent can help firms build the teams they need to succeed. Read more in IDEX’s latest insight: Next- Gen Financial Advisers and Chartered Financial Planners will not Come From Traditional Routes Combine experienced recruitment with future talent development: Accessing established advisers remains essential for immediate capacity and expertise. Complementing this with structured development creates opportunities to build the next generation of financial planning professionals. Future advice talent may be closer than firms think: Paraplanners, client-service professionals and people from relationship-led sectors such as banking, accountancy and professional services have valuable transferable skills. With the right supervision and development, it’s possible to create alternative routes into advice. Build talent pipelines that support future growth: Academies, qualification pathways and structured mentoring can help firms develop the adviser capability they'll need as their businesses expand, supporting succession planning and sustainable growth. Question for leaders: As your business plans for growth, succession or acquisition over the next three to five years, how could a broader approach to recruitment and talent development help you build the adviser capacity you'll need?Financial Services market newsThis month’s Financial Services news shows firms balancing stretched capacity and an increasingly mobile client base with complex considerations. Together, these trends are sharpening focus on how firms structure, support and retain the talent they need to grow. Capacity is a key growth issue for advice firms:Almost a third of advice professionals are working beyond a standard 35–40 hour week, with administration absorbing much of the additional time. Those working the longest report significantly poorer work-life balance, raising questions over how sustainably firms can service client demand. IDEX view: In a market where experienced advisers and paraplanners are difficult to find, consistently stretching existing teams risks turning a talent shortage into a retention problem. Firms need to consider not only how they recruit more capacity, but how technology, support structures and role design can allow advisers to spend more time with clients. Retirement advice is becoming harder to deliver well: Tax complexity, inheritance planning and intergenerational wealth transfer are shaping retirement conversations, with 47% of advisers citing these as the biggest influences on their approach. However, few firms have a formal centralised retirement proposition, suggesting advice models are still adapting to complex client requirements. IDEX view: This complexity puts a premium on experienced, technically strong advisers and the paraplanning capability behind them. For wealth businesses, the question is whether their current talent model can keep pace. Firms capable of capturing demand will combine technical expertise with enough adviser and support capacity to deliver consistently. International mobility is changing the shape of UK wealth:The number of taxpayers notifying HMRC that they were leaving the UK permanently rose 32% year on year, from 52,000 to 69,000. Changes to the tax environment and the replacement of the non-dom regime are among the factors being linked to increased international mobility, particularly among business owners and HNW individuals. IDEX view: As clients become more internationally mobile, wealth firms must rethink the expertise required within their teams. Advisers capable of managing complex HNW relationships, working across professional networks and understanding the needs of internationally mobile clients are increasingly valuable, adding another area of competition in an already constrained talent market.Mergers and acquisitionsM&A activity this month highlights continued consolidation across wealth and investment management. The common challenge is turning deal activity into sustainable growth. Liontrust buys capability as well as scale: Liontrust’s proposed acquisition of Hawksmoor Investment Management will add around £1.9bn in AUM and expand its offering to financial advisers. Hawksmoor’s investment team will move across to Liontrust’s multi-asset business, while the disposal allows Shackleton to sharpen its focus following a period of acquisition-led expansion. Lync doubles down on regional growth: Lync Wealth Management’s acquisition of TKV Financial Management will take its assets under advice in the West Midlands to around £200m. Existing TKV advisers and support staff will remain in place, with Lync combining acquisition-led expansion with organic growth and adviser recruitment. TEAM continues building out its UK wealth proposition: TEAM plc has agreed a £3m deal for Lancashire-based Hedley & Co, adding £383m of assets under control and strengthening its North West presence. This follows other recent transactions as TEAM brings together financial advice, investment management and wider wealth capabilities under a broader growth strategy. IDEX view: Consolidation moves people, expertise and relationships. The real test for acquirers comes after completion: retaining the advisers and specialists clients trust, integrating teams without losing momentum and adding enough talent to turn acquired scale into organic growth. In a market already short of experienced advisers, people strategy has to sit alongside deal strategy if firms are going to realise the full value of an acquisition.People moves and senior appointmentsSenior appointments this month point to firms strengthening leadership around transformation and distribution. Demand is for leaders who can translate ambition into improved client outcomes and commercial growth. FNZ enters its next chapter under new leadership: Group CEO Blythe Masters is leaving FNZ after two years, with executive group chair Stephen Welch stepping in as interim CEO while a permanent successor is sought. The change comes as FNZ continues a major transformation and refocus programme following a challenging period that has also seen significant board change and restructuring. Aberdeen strengthens its leadership bench for growth:Aberdeen Adviser has made a series of senior appointments spanning distribution, client experience, finance and commercial strategy as it adapts its proposition around adviser productivity, integration and client experience. Changes include both external hires and a newly created chief strategy and commercial officer position. Redmayne Bentley puts Financial Planning at centre of expansion:Pete Donaldson has joined Redmayne Bentley as Head of Financial Planning, bringing more than 30 years of sector experience across growth, adviser development and transformation. The firm has explicitly identified growing its Financial Planning operation as a strategic priority. IDEX view: Firms are strengthening the people responsible for transformation, distribution, client experience and Financial Planning growth. New leadership mandates frequently create demand for the advisers, commercial specialists and operational capability needed to turn strategy into growth. As competition for experienced people remains intense, securing the leadership hire is often only the start.Monthly Financial Services Market Updates, Backed by Hiring ExpertiseStay close to the Financial Services market with monthly updates covering wealth management news, financial planning trends, M&A activity, senior appointments, regulation, technology and IDEX insight. Subscribe to the monthly newsletter to understand not just what has happened, but what it could mean for growth, hiring, succession and market positioning. The IDEX Salary Calculator gives Financial Services professionals access to market-specific compensation insight, helping them benchmark pay and make informed career decisions. Check your salary is in line with market ratesFinding the right people does not need to slow your growth. IDEX uses deep market knowledge and established sector relationships to connect firms with skilled professionals who can support long-term performance. Review your advice team capacity

Close the Coming Skills Gaps With Specialist Actuarial Recruitment

The actuarial skills shortage is being driven by a small global talent pool, long qualification pathways, rising demand across pricing, modelling and regulatory work, and a growing need for commercial judgement alongside technical expertise. In response, specialist actuarial recruitment now has to solve for capability and succession, not simply fill vacancies. We speak to Matt Waterworth, Head of Actuarial Practice here at IDEX, to understand where actuarial capability gaps create the greatest commercial and regulatory exposure, and how to make workforce decisions that strengthen resilience, performance and future growth. Ways Actuarial Shortages Constrain Insurance Growth When it comes to shortages of key skills, the numbers illustrate how constrained the profession already is. Chartered Accountants Worldwide represents more than two million Chartered Accountants and students, while the CFA Institute has more than 200,000 registered Certified Financial Accountants globally. By comparison, there are only around 80,000 actuaries working worldwide, with much of that talent is unevenly distributed too. One analysis, puts 75% of those actuaries working in North America and Europe. Scarcity of headcount is only part of the issue. Throughout IDEX’s conversations with the market, specialist capability is just as constrained. Pricing has remained one of the clearest areas of demand, while reserving and capital requirements are becoming busier as carriers grow and new businesses enter the market. MGAs are also increasingly recognising the value actuarial capability can bring to pricing and analytics. That changes what insurance businesses should be asking of their actuarial recruitment strategy. The conversation cannot stop at whether a vacancy can be filled. It needs to consider where a lack of actuarial capacity is already constraining the business: Slowing the development of pricing models Limiting underwriting responsiveness Increasing pressure on regulatory and capital reporting Delaying expansion into new markets or products Concentrating too much knowledge in a small number of senior people Matt has seen the commercial consequences first-hand. “I’ve seen several instances of that being the case,” he explained, “Which is why actuarial capacity needs to be viewed directly as a critical part of the infrastructure of an insurer, protecting revenue, regulatory obligations and the organisation’s ability to operate.” When expertise is missing, the consequences can reach pricing, regulatory submissions and ultimately the ability of the business to deliver against its commercial plans. When Capacity Falls Short, Regulatory Risk Rises Actuarial capacity is not just a productivity issue. In some functions, the right level of expertise and professional designation is fundamental to meeting regulatory obligations and maintaining business continuity. The same principle applies within carriers. Capital submissions, Lloyd’s reporting and other regulatory deadlines do not move because a team is under-resourced. As Matt puts it, “There are legal ramifications of not having enough actuaries within the business doing what you need them to do.” That means leaders need visibility of where critical knowledge and sign-off authority sit before capacity becomes stretched. An actuarial recruitment strategy should therefore be identifying those points of dependency early, rather than kicking in only when regulatory or operational pressure has already built. How Do You Recruit Actuaries For An Insurance Team? Matt’s starting point is simple; “We define what the business actually needs the person to achieve. That’s because, the strongest briefs as those that connect the role to outcomes.” Technical requirements matter, but a specification built entirely around qualifications, years of experience and previous employers can quickly narrow an already limited market without addressing the underlying business need. Does the business need someone who can improve pricing capability, support expansion, strengthen capital management or work more closely with underwriting? That context also gives an actuarial recruitment strategy more opportunity to advise on where relevant capability may exist outside an obvious competitor set. Senior actuarial capability takes years to develop, particularly when commercial judgement, board exposure and stakeholder influence are required. So, Matt also encourages leaders to consider succession at the same time as recruitment. As he explains, “That commercial acumen and business knowledge... takes time to learn.” That longer-term view matters, whether organisations are recruiting for actuarial jobs in insurance or looking to hire pensions actuaries. The immediate appointment should strengthen today’s team without creating tomorrow’s succession gap. What Qualifications Do Insurance Actuaries Need? Insurance actuaries typically require recognised professional actuarial qualifications, alongside relevant experience in areas such as pricing, reserving, capital modelling or risk. Matt is clear, however, that qualification is rarely the underlying skills problem. “By becoming a qualified actuary you are technically strong enough... because it’s such a rigorous training process. However, real differentiation appears after that technical foundation has been established.” When hiring, firms must ask: Can the candidate explain complex analysis to a non-actuarial audience? Can they challenge an underwriter constructively? Can they connect capital decisions to wider business strategy? Can they translate modelling into a recommendation that senior leadership can act on? Those questions become particularly important at leadership level, to determine whether someone has the influence and judgement the organisation needs. When conducting assessments, an actuarial staffing agency must consider how effectively that capability will operate within the wider business. Modelling And Pricing Need Commercial Fluency This is where Matt believes one of the biggest capability gaps now sits. “Technical modeling is not the bottleneck,” he told us, “The issue is finding actuaries who can take that technical expertise and apply it commercially.” In pricing, that means understanding what underwriters are facing in the market and ensuring models support commercially effective decisions. In capital, it means understanding how structure, risk appetite and future transactions connect. In reserving, it means working effectively across finance, claims, systems and regulatory requirements. AI is making that distinction more important. Matt does not see automation reducing the need for actuaries. Instead, he sees it changing where their time can create value. “Sit me in the corner and leave me alone with my spreadsheets... Those days are gone,” he chuckles. [JM1.1] Work that once took days or weeks can increasingly be accelerated, giving actuaries more time to validate outputs, interpret them and participate in strategic conversations. Technical capability, then, needs to be redeployed, closer to underwriting, strategy and decision-making. That should also shape what businesses expect from their actuarial recruitment process. The strongest candidate may not only be the person capable of building the model, but the person who can explain what it means for growth, risk and market positioning. Attracting and Retaining Actuarial Talent Scarcity also changes the attraction and retention equation. Salary benchmarking, remains part of attracting and retaining talent. But Matt is seeing more businesses use incentives and restrictions to protect actuarial capability they know will be difficult to replace. As actuarial roles broaden, strong performers are increasingly able to contribute across underwriting, strategy, technology and leadership. Giving people that exposure can make roles more compelling while simultaneously developing the commercial capability businesses need. Senior actuaries being retained because they are well rewarded for doing the same role, but also because they can see a meaningful path towards greater influence. The latter also helps succession planning. There is a clear risk of experienced leaders retiring with years of institutional knowledge if their deputies have not been brought into board discussions and strategic decision-making early enough. Retention and succession should therefore be considered together. Keeping scarce capability is important; deliberately transferring the knowledge around it is what makes that capability resilient. Building Actuarial Capability For Growth And Resilience Closing the actuarial skills gap is ultimately not about having more actuarial desks. It requires insurers to ensure they have the right capability, in the right places, to turn technical expertise into better decisions, sustainable growth and stronger risk management. That won’t be achieved by treating every vacancy reactively, or as a standalone hiring problem. Instead, it is to plan deliberately for the future actuarial capabilities required. Specialist actuarial recruitment support can play a useful role in that process. IDEX’s approach is to combine market knowledge with workforce insight, helping insurance businesses understand where talent exists, where supply is constrained and how their requirements compare with the wider market. Contact IDEX to discuss how to build the actuarial capability your business needs next.

General Insurance Market Update: September 2026

The insurance market continues to show resilience, but the shape of that growth is becoming more selective. Hiring remains comparatively strong, yet firms are being increasingly deliberate about where they invest, which capabilities they prioritise and how they protect specialist expertise. That same selectivity is evident across M&A and leadership. Capital is concentrating around differentiated specialty businesses, integration is becoming a bigger part of the value-creation story, and senior roles are evolving to reflect greater demand for analytics, digital capability and commercial transformation. For insurers, the common thread is execution: having the right people in place to convert market opportunity into sustainable growth. In this month’s update, we look at the market shifts, transactions and leadership moves shaping that agenda.IDEX insight: what this month’s market activity meansDespite a degree of economic uncertainty, this month’s market update points to an insurance sector that is still investing and evolving, albeit becoming much more deliberate about where it places capital, leadership and headcount. Growth depends on having scarce expertise in place before the business needs it urgently. One of the clearest examples of that challenge are the ongoing skills gaps being felt across the actuarial function. With a relatively small global talent pool and growing demand across pricing, reserving, capital and modelling, firms are struggling to ensure they have the right capability in the right places to support commercial decision-making, protect business continuity and deliver future growth. We’re also seeing a shift in what businesses need from actuarial talent. Technical qualification remains essential, but the greater point of differentiation is commercial fluency. As automation accelerates elements of technical work, that ability to interpret, challenge and influence becomes more valuable, not less. Read more in IDEX’s latest insight: Close the Coming Skills Gaps With Specialist Actuarial Recruitment Recruit actuarial talent against the next business constraint: Demand remains tight across pricing, reserving and capital, with MGAs also building more actuarial capability. Ask where a lack of actuarial expertise could stop you pricing effectively, entering a market or supporting future growth. Commercial influence is hardest to hire for: Technical qualification is the baseline. The scarcer capability is finding actuaries who can challenge underwriting, translate modelling into commercial decisions and explain the implications of pricing and capital choices to senior leadership Map points of failure before the market exposes them: Succession planning needs to start well before a senior actuary resigns or retires. If critical knowledge, regulatory sign-off or commercial relationships sit with one or two individuals, recruitment becomes significantly harder once that turns into an urgent vacancy. The stronger approach is to build deputies, transfer knowledge and understand external talent availability before pressure arrives. Question for leaders: If one of your most experienced actuaries left tomorrow, where would the business feel it first — pricing, capital, regulatory delivery or growth? Have you built the internal and external talent options to protect that capability?Insurance market newsThis month’s insurance news shows a market balancing resilience with rising competitive pressure and where sustained performance increasingly depends on specialist expertise, strong leadership and disciplined execution. London’s lead no longer something the market can take for granted: London remains one of the world’s leading financial centres and the pre-eminent global hub for complex specialty risk, but its competitive position is being tested. The latest Global Financial Centres Index places London fifth in its insurance-specific ranking. Strong Lloyd’s results suggest this is not a story of immediate decline, but of intensifying competition for capital, business and influence. IDEX view: London’s advantage has always rested on the concentration of specialist underwriting, broking and leadership talent that makes complex risks placeable. As competing centres invest and grow, retaining that expertise becomes a strategic issue. Firms that want to protect or expand their London position will need to think just as carefully about succession, specialist capability and attracting internationally mobile talent as they do about pricing and capacity. Insurance hiring holding up, but resilience does not mean business as usual: Against a UK employment market that has recorded seven consecutive months of falling payroll numbers, finance and insurance remains one of the few major sectors with more employees than a year ago. Sector headcount was around 3,900 higher year-on-year in August, although it dipped month-on-month, pointing to a market that is proving more resilient than the wider economy without being immune to the slowdown. IDEX view: Insurance businesses are still investing in people, but the market is more selective about where headcount creates value. For firms, that increases the importance of securing proven specialists and leaders in areas tied directly to growth and underwriting performance. For professionals, a resilient market offers opportunity, but differentiation and specialist expertise matter as businesses are more deliberate about every hire. Greensill leaves a much bigger lesson than one settled claim: IAG has reached a confidential settlement with Credit Suisse over approximately A$3bn of claims connected to the collapse of Greensill Capital. At the heart of the dispute were fundamental questions around underwriting authority, agency relationships and whether cover had been validly bound, issues that remain relevant to the broader insurance market. IDEX view: Cases of this scale underline the value of technical expertise when increasingly complex risks move through multiple parties, authorities and structures. Strong underwriting governance matters, but so does having experienced people capable of challenging risk, understanding delegated authority and managing difficult claims when things go wrong. As specialty products and distribution models become more sophisticated, firms cannot afford for technical capability to lag behind commercial ambition. Mergers and acquisitionsInsurance M&A activity has not run out of momentum, however capital is becoming more selective and the strategic rationale has to work harder. Zurich–Beazley moves from dealmaking to delivery: Zurich’s £8.1bn acquisition of Beazley is set to become effective on 1 October. Zurich has positioned the combination as the foundation for a global specialty insurance leader, with approximately $15bn of pro-forma specialty gross written premium. The focus will soon shift to integrating two substantial specialist businesses. Specialty assets take bigger share of smaller deal market: Overall UK insurance distribution M&A has slowed, with 56 announced transactions through August; 16% fewer than at the same point last year. Yet specialty and wholesale businesses now represent 29% of UK sector deals in 2026. Capital is concentrating around differentiated MGAs, Lloyd’s brokers and specialist propositions. The consolidation machine is more selective:The slowdown is not confined to the UK. Brokerage deal volumes have fallen in North America too. High leverage, years of bolt-on acquisitions and unfinished integration are raising the threshold for new deals, creating a widening gap between businesses able to command strategic valuations and those facing a much narrower buyer pool. Brokers are moving further into the insurance value chain: MNK Group’s acquisition of Danish insurer ETU Forsikring gives the London-based group its own EU-regulated insurance balance sheet alongside its broking and MGA operations. The model offers greater control over European capacity, underwriting strategy and placement economics, while reducing dependence on third-party carrier relationships, another sign that traditional boundaries between broker, MGA and carrier are becoming less fixed. IDEX view: Buyers are prioritising differentiated specialty capability, stronger control of distribution and businesses where there is a credible route to value creation after completion. Integration leadership, specialist producers, underwriting expertise and the ability to retain key teams can determine whether an acquisition delivers the growth promised in the deal thesis. Talent strategy cannot begin after the transaction closes; it needs to form part of the transaction strategy itself.People moves and senior appointmentsSenior moves this month point to a wider change in what insurance leadership teams are being built to deliver. AIG faces another significant succession decision:Jon Hancock will retire as CEO of AIG General Insurance at the end of 2026, with no successor yet announced. The position covers a substantial global remit, making the eventual appointment an important leadership decision at a time when the wider business is already transitioning under CEO Eric Andersen. Sompo changes UK leadership as Aspen integration enters its next phase: Nicolas Berg will take over as CEO of Sompo’s UK insurance business from 1 October, bringing extensive P&C, specialty and reinsurance experience from SCOR and AIG. His arrival comes only months after Sompo completed its $3.5bn acquisition of Aspen, placing new leadership at the centre of the work to integrate a substantial specialty book and strengthen Sompo’s UK commercial insurance position. Canopius puts analytics directly into the leadership structure: Long-standing group Chief Actuary Nick Betteridge Canopius steps into the role of group Chief Analytics Officer. AI, machine learning, data science, analytics and pricing will now sit under one executive function, reflecting an approach in which technology is organised around underwriting and business outcomes rather than treated as a standalone programme. Chubb splits digital leadership as mandate broadens:Chubb has divided responsibility for its global digital business between two senior leaders following Sean Ringsted’s move into a chief scientist role. Johan Oosthuizen will lead the global digital business, while Gabriel Lazaro will focus on digital growth and strategic consumer partnerships. IDEX view: Traditional succession remains critical, particularly across underwriting and P&C, but insurers are simultaneously reshaping senior roles around integration, analytics, digital distribution and technology-enabled growth. The result is a complex leadership market. Businesses need executives who combine insurance credibility with the ability to lead transformation, build new capabilities and translate investment into commercial outcomes. Defining that mandate clearly is important because the pool of leaders who genuinely bridge technical insurance expertise and transformation experience remains limited.Monthly Insurance Market Updates, Backed by Hiring ExpertiseStay close to the General Insurance market with monthly updates covering market news, M&A activity, senior appointments, leadership moves and IDEX insight. Subscribe to the monthly newsletter to understand not just what has happened, but what it could mean for growth, hiring, succession and market positioning. The IDEX Salary Calculator gives Insurance professionals access to market-specific compensation insight, helping them benchmark pay and make informed career decisions. Check your salary is in line with market ratesFinding the right people does not need to slow your growth. IDEX uses deep market knowledge and established sector relationships to connect firms with skilled professionals who can support long-term performance. Review your advice team capacity

Rethinking Succession Planning to Build a Sustainable Insurance Leadership Pipeline

Succession planning traditionally focuses on who might replace members of the executive team. However, those appointments represent only a small part of the wider talent risk facing insurance businesses. Demographic pressure in insurance is difficult to ignore. More than one quarter of UK insurance employees are over 50, while 50% of the current insurance workforce could retire within the next 15 years. Potential losses include decades of client knowledge and experience. A sustainable insurance leadership pipeline must protect the middle managers and technical specialists whose capabilities translate strategy into profitable performance and growth. It must also identify the Account Executives, Client Managers, producers and technical specialists whose knowledge and client relationships create significant exposure if they leave.What Is Succession Planning in Insurance? Succession planning is the structured process of identifying roles critical to business continuity, and creating the development, recruitment and retention plans needed to protect future capability. In insurance, this should extend beyond board and executive appointments to include professionals whose departure can still create significant commercial exposure. An effective insurance leadership pipeline should account for three connected risks: Leadership Risk Who will set direction, make decisions and maintain accountability? Capability Risk Which technical skills or areas of judgement would be difficult to replace? Relationship Risk Which client, broker, carrier or market relationships depend too heavily on one individual? If that person left tomorrow, how much revenue could realistically follow them? This broader approach moves succession planning away from replacement and towards resilience.Why Insurance Succession Planning Is Particularly Challenging Insurance firms face several challenges that make succession planning more complex. First, much of the industry’s value is based on knowledge that is difficult to document. Underwriting judgement develops through exposure to risk and market cycles. A procedure manual cannot fully capture why an experienced underwriter chose to decline a risk, challenge a model or adjust a portfolio strategy. Second, relationships remain commercially important. Clients and market partners place trust in particular individuals, especially in specialist and relationship-led segments such as marine insurance. The risk is particularly acute in broking businesses where an Account Executive or Client Manager may have spent years building personal trust with a portfolio of clients. If that individual leaves, the business may be defending a book of business worth millions. Where the client identifies more strongly with the individual than the firm, a poorly managed departure can lead directly to lost revenue and, in extreme cases, threaten the viability of the business. Third, the talent entering the market may not be sufficient to replace those preparing to leave. One survey of UK insurance brokers found that while 66% of firms are eager to recruit younger employees, around half struggle to hire those aged 30 and under. This is especially pronounced in the London Market where the under-30 population is estimated to fall from 24% of the workforce to 7% over the next ten years. Firms cannot assume the next generation will naturally emerge in sufficient numbers. Building an insurance leadership pipeline that addresses these issues requires deliberate early intervention. The Four Stages of Succession Planning The following four stages of succession planning provide a practical framework for turning workforce risk into an actionable plan to build a sustainable insurance leadership pipeline. 1. Identify Business-Critical Roles Start by assessing where a departure would have the greatest impact on performance. Ask: Which individuals personally manage our largest or most strategically important client relationships? What percentage of revenue or client income is concentrated around them? Would those clients see their relationship as being with the business or with that individual? If that individual resigned tomorrow, who could credibly take over the relationship? Where do we have no secondary relationship between the client and the wider business? 2. Assess Succession Readiness Once critical roles have been identified, assess how prepared the business really is to replace them. Ask: Do we have someone who could step into this role immediately if needed? Which potential successors could be ready within two or three years? Where do we have high-potential people who still require significant development? Have potential successors demonstrated the technical and commercial behaviours the role requires? Can they operate at the broader level of accountability the role demands? 3. Build Targeted Development Plans Development should be based on what each potential successor still needs to prove. Ask: Where could stretch assignments or acting responsibilities test their readiness? Would cross-functional projects give them broader commercial or operational exposure? Do they need greater involvement in strategic planning or senior decision-making? Which client, broker, carrier or market relationships should they begin building now? Who could mentor them to accelerate the transfer of knowledge and relationships? 4. Review, Test and Refresh the Plan Business priorities change and new capability requirements emerge. Succession plans evolve as the business changes. Ask: Do the roles identified as business-critical still reflect our strategy and growth priorities? Have potential successors demonstrated the capability we expected them to develop? If we promoted someone would that create another critical gap elsewhere? Have new capability, client or relationship risks emerged since the plan was last reviewed? What would be the financial impact if a critical position remained unfilled for an extended period? Does the proposed successor actually want the role? How to Identify Critical Successors Beyond the Senior Tier Critical successors to key roles are not always easily visible. High performance in a current role can be an indicator of potential, but it should not be the only one. Look for people who: Hold commercially significant client relationships Have credibility with clients, carriers or market partners Are protecting or growing a material book of business Hold knowledge that cannot easily be transferred Represent a significant retention risk if competitors were to hire them A credible senior insurance talent strategy should also avoid assuming that every future leader will follow the same career path. Employees should understand what progression can look like, which capabilities matter and what experiences will prepare them for broader responsibility. Broadening the definition of leadership allows firms to retain valuable expertise while creating more relevant and motivating development routes. Building Development Routes Around Critical Capabilities Succession planning fails when organisations do not create enough opportunity for potential to develop. A sustainable insurance leadership pipeline needs practical routes through which people can build judgement and confidence. This could include involvement in annual business planning or responsibility for strategic projects. Other options include rotating talent across the business or pairing emerging leaders with experienced market mentors. Knowledge transfer should also be an active process, rather than passive documentation. For client-facing roles, development should also include deliberate relationship succession. Important accounts should not depend on a single point of contact. Introducing future successors into client meetings, renewal discussions and strategic conversations builds continuity before a departure forces the issue. External hiring can strengthen internal succession. A senior insurance talent strategy should not present internal development and external recruitment as competing choices. External appointments introduce non-existent capabilities and provide experienced mentors for the next generation. Making Succession Planning Part of Business Strategy Succession planning should be a shared leadership responsibility that connects succession plans to wider growth ambitions. In this way, a strong insurance leadership pipeline becomes a visible system Operations leaders should identify process and knowledge dependencies. HR should provide structure, challenge assumptions and support development. Line managers should create the experiences through which future leaders become ready. The board should also understand where talent risk could affect strategic delivery. For example: How much revenue is currently dependent on client relationships owned predominantly by one individual? Which of our largest accounts would be most vulnerable if their Account Executive or Client Manager joined a competitor? Do strategic clients have relationships with several people in the organisation, or only one? Are successors being retained, developed and rewarded appropriately? Building a Sustainable Insurance Leadership Pipeline The demographic challenges facing insurance cannot be addressed by focusing only on senior leadership talent. Continuity depends on the strength of the layers beneath them and on emerging professionals. IDEX works with insurance leaders to identify critical capability requirements, helping them build a senior insurance talent strategy aligned with future business performance. Our market-led approach helps organisations plan for continuity across revenue-critical, client-facing roles rather than responding only when a vacancy becomes urgent. Build a sustainable insurance leadership pipeline that strengthens leadership capacity and supports long-term growth. Contact IDEX to discuss your succession and talent priorities.

Financial Services Monthly Market Update: September 2026

Continued investment and ambitious growth strategies are reshaping how firms compete in the wealth and financial planning market. For those able to scale, there is pressure to integrate effectively to protect client relationships and maintain service quality. For those who cannot, consolidation requires difficult decisions around succession, ownership and future direction. Both put new demands on people and successful execution depends on having the right talent and operating structure in place.That extends beyond the front office. In this month’s update, we look at an increasingly concentrated market. Larger firms are acquiring for scale, while others are considering sale or exit. Those pursuing growth are forced to think harder about integration, flexible working and the talent needed to support sustainable growth.IDEX insight: what this month’s market activity means Wealth firms continue to scale through acquisition, invest in leadership and rethink how their teams are structured. But growth is only valuable if the operating model behind it can keep pace.Experienced administrators and client support professionals are increasingly important to adviser productivity, client service and sustainable growth. As firms add assets, clients and adviser headcount, the quality of the support function can determine whether growth creates capacity or simply creates more pressure.This is particularly relevant when consolidation increases organisational complexity and experienced adviser talent remains difficult to secure. Strong operations can give advisers more time to focus on clients and new business, while helping firms maintain service standards as they grow.To attract high-quality operational support, firms should offer clear progression, competitive flexibility and the opportunity to work with modern systems in a role that is recognised as central to the client and commercial proposition.Read more in IDEX’s latest insight: Why Back-Office Talent Is Now a Competitive Advantage in Wealth Management OperationsAdviser capacity depends on operational capacity: When administration is stretched, advisers inevitably absorb work that could sit elsewhere. That reduces the time available for client meetings, referrals, relationship development and revenue-generating activity.Growth increases the value of strong operations: Acquisitions, client growth, new propositions and platform changes all place additional pressure on the back office. Building operational capability alongside adviser capacity makes it easier to scale without service quality deteriorating.The back-office skill profile is changing: As automation removes more routine activity, the strongest support professionals are increasingly defined by their human judgement and the ability to use technology effectively.Question for leaders: As your business grows, are you investing in back-office capacity at the same pace as adviser, client and asset growth? Or are operational gaps already limiting how effectively your front-office talent can perform?Financial Services market news This month’s Financial Services news points to a market balancing growth with structural change. Investment and consolidation are putting pressure on firms to align people strategy with commercial ambitions.Wealth management isa two-speed market: An FCA study shows an industry simultaneously consolidating and pursuing growth. The ten largest firms serve 89% of clients, while 41% plan to acquire, increase revenue or grow their client base by more than 25% over the next two years. However, 18% are considering winding down or selling some or all of their client base.IDEX view: Growth businesses need leadership and client-facing capacity to absorb new clients and acquisitions, while firms considering an exit face questions around succession and continuity. As the market concentrates, access to experienced talent becomes key to whether growth strategies can actually be delivered.Brooks Macdonald shows what successful integration can deliver: Brooks Financial grew revenue by 10% y-o-y and now contributes around a quarter of group revenue, following the integration of LIFT-Financial, Lucas Fettes and CST. Client retention remained at 98%, while the firm signalled it is looking for further Financial Planning businesses to acquire.IDEX view:As consolidators continue to build, integration capability, adviser retention and the strength of the leadership team behind acquired businesses are important differentiators. For firms pursuing repeat M&A, the people strategy needs to keep pace with the deal strategy.Flexibility is part of the adviser employment proposition: Financial Planning Today’s 2026 survey found that only 28% of planners now work mainly from an office. One in five work entirely remotely, while 29% vary their location and working pattern from week to week – a sizeable increase from last year.IDEX view:In a market where qualified Financial Advisers and Paraplanners are already difficult to secure, flexible working arrangements increasingly affect the size of the talent pool. Firms need to understand what candidates value and be clear about why office presence is required.Mergers and acquisitions M&A activity this month shows wealth firms continuing to use acquisition as a route to scale, capability and regional expansion.Shackleton moves from consolidation to national scale: The acquisition of Argentis creates a group with £17.5bn in AUM, more than 44,000 clients and 233 advisers and investment managers. The enlarged business spans 38 offices and more than 850 employees, with former Argentis CEO Andrew Westenberger joining Shackleton’s Executive Committee to support integration.Canaccord buying capability as well as £3.1bn of assets: Canaccord Wealth has agreed to acquire the client assets and front-office teams of EFG Harris Allday, a 77-person business managing approximately £3.1bn. Alongside expanding Canaccord’s Midlands presence, the transaction combines Harris Allday’s investment expertise and relationships with Canaccord’s wider Financial Planning capabilities.7IM puts adviser recruitment alongside acquisition in its growth plan: Lync Wealth’s purchase of two Belfast Financial Planning businesses adds £300m in assets under advice and takes its NI operation beyond £350m. Its ambition for £1bn+ of client assets in the region, will be achieved through a combination of organic growth, further acquisitions and adviser recruitment.IDEX view:Wealth-sector M&A is increasingly about building platforms for growth, not simply adding assets. Acquirers bring together client relationships, adviser teams, new locations and operating infrastructure – making integration a people issue as much as a transaction issue. Firms that retain key advisers, strengthen leadership and build talent capacity will turn consolidation into sustainable revenue growth.People moves and senior appointmentsSenior appointments this month reflect the leadership and adviser capability firms need to deliver on ambitious growth plans.Perspective strengthens leadership infrastructure behind growth: Perspective Financial Group has appointed Iain McKenzie as COO alongside two new non-executive directors and strengthened regional leadership. McKenzie’s remit includes the people, technology, support functions and integration capability required to underpin continued expansion.Standard Life backs internal progression ahead of its next phase: Emma Furlonger has been appointed Managing Director of Standard Life’s workplace and retail intermediary business after leading on an interim basis since April. The appointment comes in preparation for further scale through a planned Aegon UK acquisition and continued expansion in workplace pensions and retirement savings.Fidelius adds experienced adviser capacity to support expansion: Chartered Financial Planner James Martin has joined Fidelius after ten years with City Asset Management. His appointment follows further adviser recruitment across the business, as Fidelius continues an organic and acquisitive growth strategy backed by Söderberg & Partners.IDEX view:Growth is creating talent requirements at several levels of the wealth market. Consolidators need senior operators capable of building infrastructure and integrating businesses; large providers need leadership continuity through periods of change; and expanding advice firms still need experienced, client-facing advisers to turn strategy into revenue.Monthly Financial Services Market Updates, Backed by Hiring Expertise. Stay close to the Financial Services market with monthly updates covering wealth management news, financial planning trends, M&A activity, senior appointments, regulation, technology and IDEX insight. Subscribe to the monthly newsletter to understand not just what has happened, but what it could mean for growth, hiring, succession and market positioning.The IDEX Salary Calculator gives Financial Services professionals access to market-specific compensation insight, helping them benchmark pay and make informed career decisions.Check your salary is in line with market ratesFinding the right people does not need to slow your growth. IDEX uses deep market knowledge and established sector relationships to connect firms with skilled professionals who can support long-term performance.Review your advice team capacity

Why Back-Office Talent is Now a Competitive Advantage In Wealth Management Operations

Back-office recruitment is important because the quality of wealth management operations directly affects how clients are served and how confidently a firm can grow.Experienced administrators and client support professionals are no longer simply there to process activity generated elsewhere in the business. At their best, they create capacity, protect service standards and ensure that adviser relationships are supported by an operation capable of delivering on what has been promised.That matters when growth opportunities in wealth management are substantial.PwC expects global assets under management (AUM) to rise from £102 trillion to £147 trillion by 2030, with as much as £170 billion in new industry revenue available over the next five years.Capturing that opportunity will require firms to have the operational capability to support greater scale without allowing service quality or profitability to deteriorate.What Do Back-Office Staff Enable? A strong adviser can only be as productive as the operating environment around them allows.Experienced back-office support:Anticipates what is neededIdentifies issues before they become delaysMaintains accurate recordsManages workflows Gives advisers confidence that agreed actions will progress without continual interventionHowever, when administrative capacity is stretched, advisers inevitably absorb part of the workload, spending valuable time navigating processes that should move efficiently through the business.Every hour an adviser spends compensating for an operational gap is an hour unavailable for client meetings, relationship development, referrals or new business.The role of the back-office is also changing. 95% banking executives identify operational efficiency and automation among their top investment priorities for the next 12 months.However, the impact of artificial intelligence and automation means that support roles are becoming broader and more client-facing as routine activity is automated.Technology is removing some repetitive work, but that does not necessarily diminish the value of experienced support talent.Why Strong Wealth Management Operations Matter The effects of operational quality are felt throughout the client journey.High-performing back offices should be considered sources of value creation and growth, rather than simply costs to manage.For advisers, an effective support function creates time. For clients, it creates responsiveness and consistency. For compliance teams, good administration means accurate information, clearer processes and stronger records. For the business, it creates the infrastructure needed to grow without increasing friction at the same rate as client numbers.This makes wealth management operations an important part of retention. Clients may primarily associate their relationship with an adviser, but their experience of the firm is shaped by every interaction around that relationship: whether requests are acknowledged, paperwork progresses, information is accurate and commitments are met.What Skills Should Firms Look For? The strongest administrators in wealth management operations are no longer defined by process accuracy alone. Firms are looking for people who are commercially aware, client-conscious and technologically confident. That is, professionals who understand not just what needs to be done, but why it matters to the adviser, the client and the wider business.That means prioritising skills such as:Commercial awareness – understanding how operations affects client retention, revenue and profitability, and recognising where poor processes create wider consequences.Client consciousness – seeing administration through the lens of the client experience, with an appreciation of how communication and accuracy influence long-term relationships.Technological confidence – being comfortable working with automation and AI-enabled tools, while still applying judgement and knowing when human intervention is required.Ownership and accountability – taking responsibility for progressing work, resolving issues and following through rather than simply completing isolated tasks.Judgement and problem-solving – recognising when something falls outside the normal process, identifying potential risks early and escalating appropriately.Communication skills – working confidently with advisers, clients, providers and internal teams, and translating operational issues into clear, practical next steps.Adaptability – responding positively to changing systems, processes, regulation and client expectations without compromising service quality.As routine activity becomes increasingly automated, value will sit more heavily in judgement, communication, problem-solving and the ability to use technology intelligently.How Can Firms Attract Stronger Administrators? Attracting the strongest administrators starts with understanding when additional capacity is required, then building a role and employee proposition that reflects the value these professionals bring to wealth management operations.Know When to HireRising workloads, increasing adviser numbers, client growth, new propositions, platform migrations or declining service levels can all indicate that back-office capability needs strengthening.Advisors routinely completing work that could sit within administration or client support, is also an indicator. Model operational capacity alongside adviser capacity and hire before service becomes constrained.Stop Presenting Roles as Purely AdministrativeRole design matters. Experienced administrators provide judgement, ownership and continuity across the client journey, so job propositions should reflect that rather than reducing the position to a list of processing responsibilities.The more clearly firms demonstrate the impact a role has on clients and business performance, the more compelling it becomes to high-calibre candidates.Articulate the Role of TechnologyTechnology is changing wealth management operations and firms should be clear about what that means for the people joining them.Automation should remove repetitive work and allow experienced professionals to spend more time improving processes or supporting complex client requirements.Candidates need to know technology will enhance their role not just be used to increase expected output.Benchmark CompensationIn a competitive recruitment market, relying on historic salary bands can quickly narrow the available talent pool.Regular benchmarking gives a clear view of what comparable firms are offering and where expectations are moving.Compensation does not need to be the only differentiator, but it does need to remain credible against the level of responsibility, technical knowledge and client impact expected from the role.Otherwise, even a well-designed opportunity may struggle to gain attention.Offer a Strong Employee Value Proposition (EVP)Salary may open the conversation, but the wider EVP will determine whether experienced administrators see a long-term future with the firm.That includes meaningful autonomy, access to professional development, the quality of technology available to them, manageable workloads and visible progression opportunities. It also means giving operational employees a voice in improving the processes they work with every day.Build the Operations Function That Growth Requires The back office is easy to view as something that supports growth after it happens. Increasingly, it is part of what makes growth possible in the first place and the right back-office hiring strategy can strengthen adviser productivity, client retention and long-term business performance.A capable wealth management operations function gives advisers more room to advise, provides clients with more consistent service and helps firms turn additional demand into sustainable business rather than additional pressure.IDEX works with wealth management and financial planning businesses to understand the talent structures behind growth, from adviser and paraplanning capability through to experienced administration, client support and operations professionals.If your firm is reviewing operational capacity, planning for growth or finding it increasingly difficult to secure experienced support talent, contact IDEX.

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