Overall Salaries, Bonuses & Earnings

Employed

Earnings are up across the board – reflecting a high inflation period and a positive environment for all the occupations here. A notable highlight is that for the first time employed advisers have earned in excess of £100,000. However, BDMs remain the highest earners among employees, with earnings nearly at £117,000.

Self-employed

Overall, earnings across all occupations are down 3.9% with advisers down 4.5%. Nevertheless, these earnings levels are well more than their employed counterparts. The increased earnings for those employed reflect increased salaries rather than bonus. The overall conclusion is that inflation led increases in salaries are not, over the last year, matched by levels of business.

Impact of gender on earnings

The Census shows an overall gender gap of 34%. This is clearly very high but significantly lower than last year’s gap of 53%. The story is more nuanced at the individual occupation level and the sections on earnings for each occupation give a fuller picture.

Earnings - Gender	All
Male	£101,009
Female	£75,628

Impact of age on earnings

The highest earning age group continues to be those aged 40-50, yet earnings are consistently high across all age groups, with the 20-30 age bracket showing particularly competitive earnings compared to other sectors.

Earnings - Age	All
20 - 30	£57,586
30 - 40	£86,976
40 - 50	£105,918
50 - 60	£101,677
60 - 70	£86,022

Impact of qualifications on earnings

As you’d expect the benefit of Chartered status is now very clear. These results are weighted by advisers in particular but the importance of qualifications is felt in all occupational groups.

Earnings - Quals	All
In process of achieving Level 4	£80,438
QCF Level 4	£87,814
Chartered (or equivalent)	£108,888
Expect to attain Chartered (or equivalent) in 2024	£81,688

Impact of location on earnings

London emerges as the highest earning region, followed closely by the East of England and the North West, indicating strong earnings in these areas. In alignment with findings from last year’s Census, the North East and Northern Ireland are reported to have the lowest earnings.

Earnings - Location	All
North East	£61,064
North West	£100,992
Yorkshire & The Humber	£77,921
Midlands	£97,153
East of England	£101,860
London	£104,316
South East	£98,799
South West	£96,054
Wales	£92,907
Scotland	£95,083
Northern Ireland	£57,951

Earnings expectations

We inquired about respondents' earnings expectations for the upcoming year, and the results are overwhelmingly positive: more than 60% anticipate an increase in earnings. Typically, Advisers and BDMs display a high level of confidence in their future prospects; however, this optimism is now shared across all surveyed occupational groups .

Do you expect your earnings in 2024 to...

Increase by more than 10%
Increase by up to 10%
Remain the same
Fall by up to 10%
Fall by more than 10%

Bonuses

We asked all respondents how their bonus was arrived at.

Responses by occupation are showed later in the Census but for respondents overall it’s clear that bonuses are a matter of discretion. Note respondents could indicate as many methods as apply.

We subsequently queried employed respondents about their expectations for changes in their bonus structure in 2023. The majority, with 82% responding, anticipated no change.

Change to Bonus for 2023	Yes	No
All	18%	82%
Financial Adviser/Planner	21%	79%
BDM	21%	79%
Compliance Professional	11%	89%
Paraplanner	5%	95%

Respondents were asked to comment on changes to their bonus arrangements for 2023.

The Comments…

Change to Bonus Comments

My previous bonus was with another company and based on net flow and fees with a compliance element. It's one of the main reasons I left
Moved from a discretionary company to a formulaic one
Focus on personal objectives met in a balanced scorecard approach. Bonus pot heavily influenced by overall corporate objective performance
Going to full discretionary with no discernible parameters. Threshold has been introduced for bonus payments
Changing to 50% of salary
70% sales 30% behaviours
Change of formula
Change to shape, focus on new growth firms
60% sales based on % to target, 25% KPI, 15% Corp bonus
Rolling quarters instead of discrete quarters. Bigger KPI element
KPI bonus directly linked to non-core sales I.e. platform & MPS
More KPI Based on behaviours and achievement
KPI based element added in 3 x salary verification then 35% of fees generated
Lower percentage of fee income as I take on more existing clients from the Directors
In addition to profit share, a % of fees generated from new business
Greater number of factors. E.g. DE&I
Quarterly bonus based on retaining clients and not just new investments
Culture then financial results

We asked respondents how these factors impacted on earnings

The stock market was the strongest cause for earnings optimism at 38%, yet the economy only scores 19% positive. Of course, in the shorter term the market can delink from the economy but over time you’d expect them to move in some sort of harmony. The housing market vies with political changes and the economy as causes for negative sentiment. Given the general expectation of a change in government later this year it’s interesting that political changes are either 85% neutral or negative – only 15% see political change having a positive impact on earnings. Regulatory change is the least positive at 10%; it may be that the impact of Consumer Duty on price and value considerations is yet to work itself through. The emphasis on ongoing charges may necessitate firms reviewing their revenue models, potentially having a significant impact on their viability.

Benefits

Pension Contribution

The Census results below show significant higher levels of contribution than the Auto Enrolment minima - with BDMs enjoying the highest overall level at 15.5%.

Life Assurance

85% of respondents overall have life assurance provided by their employer with BDMs recording the highest level at 93%.

How much life assurance?

Holiday Allowance

Holiday Allowance	Average
All	28.1
Financial Adviser/Planner	28.2
BDM	29
Compliance Professional	26.9
Paraplanner	27

Car Allowance

Car Allowance Average

Other benefits overall & by occupation

PMI is the most common benefit and whilst all occupations receive all of these benefits to some degree, BDMs have the best range of benefits.

Other Benefits	All	Financial Adviser/Planner	BDM	Compliance Professional	Paraplanner
Permanent Health Insurance	40%	45%	39%	35%	29%
Private Medical Cover	65%	65%	80%	59%	45%
Private Dental	20%	17%	30%	15%	9%
Flexible Benefits	36%	30%	55%	35%	21%
Critical Illness	28%	18%	50%	26%	17%
Subsidised Meals/Restaurant	7%	4%	12%	7%	5%
Subsidised Professional Qualification / Training Costs	47%	51%	48%	31%	47%
Flexible / Unlimited Holidays	19%	17%	27%	17%	12%
None of the above	12%	12%	5%	15%	24%