St James’s Place suffered a loss in appointed representative (AR) firms and advisers in the first quarter of this year but retained its top spot, according to Network Consulting Service’s league table.
The wealth manager, which still has the largest number of firms in total, recorded a net loss of 50 firms in Q1 (1.9%), taking its AR firm count down to 2,685. Quilter recorded a net loss of 27 and Primis saw overall AR firm numbers drop by 19.
Dragon Brokers saw the largest percentage drop, at over 22%.
Paul Day of Network Consulting Services (pictured) said the changes came as brokers search for support with evolving compliance and technology along with fair exit terms from their networks.
“Historically, advisers may have focused heavily on commercial terms or commission structures when considering a move. Increasingly, firms are placing equal importance on compliance culture, technology capability, operational support such as digital and social marketing, contractual exit terms and long-term business alignment,” he said.
He said the league table showed heightened activity across the major networks compared to Q1 2025, as adviser movement remains active across both established and growing networks.
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Gainers in the table
Leading the pack of mortgage networks making the biggest net gains in Q1 were Stonebridge and HLPartnership with 19 each. Valid Path had the biggest rise – from 14th to 9th place in the league table – despite being more focused on the wealth sector.
Meanwhile, Sesame gained 17 firms in the quarter, more than in the entirety of the last year.
Stories behind the numbers
Day said several factors were influencing the changes, including Primis, Mortgage Advice Bureau (MAB) and Openwork’s heavy investment in technology, operational infrastructure, and adviser support as competition across the intermediary sector intensifies.
The sale of Best Practice IFA Group to Nuveen Partners may also produce changes going forward.
Day added: “The evolving regulatory landscape continues to influence strategic decision-making across the intermediary sector.”
The figures follow recent comments from Day to Mortgage Solutions suggesting that mortgage networks may have to “build in more value-adds” for advisers and that technology would be key.
“Technology is a large part of that – making it more streamlined for the advisory process, while not cutting corners, making it an easy consumer process, because at the end of the day, that’s why they’re all here. With that investment in technology, investment in value-adds, etc, [they] just come at a cost,” he said.