The Intermediary – October 2026 - Flipbook - Page 92
B RO K E R B U S I N E S S
Opinion
Is your advice
business in the
right shape?
L
ast month we completed
our member roadshows.
The theme was ‘The
Power of Advice’, with
much of the conversation
focused on the value our
advisers provide to customers. But
behind every adviser delivering great
advice is a strong, well-run business
that provides the support advisers
need to focus on their customers.
1. Preparing for the Budget, not
predicting it
By the time you read this, we will be
geing very close to the Budget, and
there will be plenty of speculation.
Trying to predict precisely what will
be announced is unlikely to get us very
far, but business owners can control
how prepared they are to respond.
Budgets can change consumer
behaviour very quickly, and measures
affecting property, taxation or
household finances could generate
increased demand for advice in certain
areas, while other decisions could
affect confidence, transaction levels or
the financial choices clients make.
Whatever comes our way, advisory
firms must be in a position to respond,
because there is lile benefit in an
opportunity presenting itself if the
business does not have the capacity,
people, systems or support required.
2. Business risk is also
about growth
When we talk about business risk,
there can be a tendency to think
immediately about regulation and
compliance, but the risks involved in
running an advisory firm are much
wider, and are changing all the time.
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The Intermediary | October 2026
Cyber security is an obvious
example when firms hold significant
amounts of personal and financial
information, while the growing use
of artificial intelligence (AI) raises
important questions around data,
accuracy, oversight and responsibility.
There are also risks around
recruitment, training and retaining
good people, alongside the commercial
risk of relying too heavily on one
source of income, failing to maintain
strong relationships with existing
clients or not having capacity to cope
when activity increases.
Growth itself can create risk,
because adding advisers, increasing
volumes or moving into different areas
of advice places additional demands
on people and systems. Owners must
ensure the foundations of their firm
remain strong as it develops.
3. Safety in numbers
Running your own advisory business
should not mean having to find every
answer, build every system or deal
with every new challenge by yourself.
Being part of a network gives firms
access to knowledge and experience
gathered across hundreds, even
thousands, of advisers and businesses,
while also providing support across
areas such as compliance, tech,
training, propositions and business
development.
When new risks or opportunities
emerge, having that wider view can
help firms understand what they
mean and decide how they want
to respond.
However, safety in numbers
should not mean every business
being expected to look the same.
One of the strengths of the market
is the range of firms within it and
BEN ALLEN
is managing director
at The Right Mortgage &
Protection Network
the different ambitions of the people
who run them.
4. Support should provide
freedom to grow
For one business owner, growth might
mean recruiting additional advisers,
while another might want to increase
protection business, move into
another advice area, bring new people
in or simply generate more value from
existing clients. Others may have
reached the stage where succession is
becoming important.
Regardless of where you are in the
journey, having some idea of your exit
strategy is beneficial. The role of a
network should not be to decide which
path a firm takes, but to give business
owners greater confidence to make
those decisions for themselves.
5. Understanding risk means
being ready for opportunity
At our Business Risk Forum in
November, the focus will be on safely
running and developing an AR
business, including some of the issues
around cyber, AI and the continuing
value of advice.
Understanding business risk should
never be about frightening firms into
standing still. We want our member
firms to have the confidence to
pursue opportunities, while knowing
they have the right support around
them when challenges emerge. That
combination of freedom and safety in
numbers could become increasingly
valuable in the years ahead. ●
