"It restricts the development capital available to firms and prevents restructuring. It must go."
The report, which extrapolated the results of its survey across the entire industry, also compared free capital – described as the amount a firm could invest to re-design its sales process and incorporate the use of more technology to create a more sustainable business.
The figures showed 47 per cent of single adviser firms have less than £25,000 to invest and 43 per cent of firms with two to four advisers have less than £50,000 to invest as free capital.
Fingers crossed that with Brexit we get a regulator that once no longer bound by Brussels can review and change rules which may have held back the industry and failed to help consumers.
emma.hughes@ft.com