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Happy New Year!

It’s not too late to wish everyone who subscribes to LifeTalk and this newsletter a happy and prosperous 2026. I hope it turns out to be everything you want it to be.

But many advisers believe that things are changing…

Financial Advice is not facing a wobble. It's facing a transition

Spend any time talking to financial advisers right now and a pattern emerges. There’s uncertainty, there’s quiet anxiety and there’s a sense that something fundamental is shifting, even if it’s hard to name exactly what.

On the surface, things look familiar enough. Clients still need advice, regulation still exists, firms are still profitable. But underneath, the profession is changing shape.

An ageing profession… and a surprising counter-signal

The average age of a financial adviser is still around the mid-50s. That fact alone should cause the profession to think deeply.

And yet, scroll through LinkedIn and LifeTalk and you’ll see more genuinely young advisers than ever before. They’re visible, articulate, confident and clearly thinking differently about how they show up in the world.

Both things are true at the same time.

What we’re seeing isn’t a wholesale rejuvenation of the profession - it’s a split. A new surface layer is emerging while a large cohort of advisers remain embedded in business models that were designed for a different era.

That tension is now playing out in real time.

Consolidation is a symptom, not a strategy

There’s a lot of consolidation happening too. Buyers snapping up firms, private sales accelerating and succession conversations becoming urgent.

This isn’t necessarily a sign of confidence in the future of advice. More often, it’s risk management. Scale buys time, time buys options and selling now feels safer than reinventing later.

That alone tells us how uncertain many advisers feel about what comes next. And there's an elephant in the room now.

AI is not the real threat – imagination is

Much of the current anxiety is wrapped up in AI.

• Will it replace advisers?

• Can it replicate judgement?

• Will clients still value human relationships?

But this framing misses the real risk:

Professions don’t get disrupted because technology is perfect. They get disrupted because incumbents fail to imagine themselves differently.

AI does not need to give regulated advice to change everything. It only needs to:

• educate people earlier

• answer questions when advisers aren’t present

• guide people long before they’re ready to engage

• remove friction from understanding money and decisions

By the time someone speaks to a human adviser, much of the traditional value has already been delivered.

That’s the shift many advisers haven’t fully explored yet.

The wealth transfer will expose this gap

Layer on top of this the great intergenerational wealth transfer. The evidence is clear: children are unlikely to keep their parents’ advisers.

Not because advisers are bad at what they do, but because relationships, communication styles and expectations don’t automatically transfer.

The next generation will:

• research deeply before they speak

• explore before they commit

• expect education and value before engagement

If an adviser isn’t visible and useful in that phase, they effectively don’t exist.

The profession isn’t dying. It’s splitting.

This is the most important point. The future is not advisers versus AI.

It’s advisers who:

• rethink their role

• use AI to scale their thinking, not replace it

• build education, community, coaching and guidance alongside advice

versus those who:

• wait for certainty

• hope regulation will protect the status quo

• and keep doing more of what used to work

Those two paths are already diverging.

Why this is a moment of transition – not failure

Most advisers clearly aren’t broken - they are between models.

Between:

• one-to-one advice and one-to-many education

• time-based income and scalable expertise

• silence between meetings and constant presence

Transitions are uncomfortable - they always are, but they’re also where exciting and profitable new models and opportunities emerge.

Where the Adviser Growth Community fits

The Adviser Growth Community exists for advisers who can feel this shift and want space to think it through properly.

Not quick fixes, not hype and certainly not being told what to believe. But thoughtful discussion around:

• what advice businesses are becoming

• how AI actually fits in practice

• how to stay relevant through education, visibility, subscription services and community

• and how to build something sustainable for the next phase of your career

It’s a peer-led space for advisers who are already leaning forward. If you feel like you’re in a period of change or transition, you’re probably not wrong.

And you’re certainly not on your own.

Join now with a seven day trial at https://www.skool.com/adviser-growth-community

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If you haven’t yet picked up your copy, you can find it here:
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And finally… never mind my book, what about your book?!

The ultimate way to share your expertise with more people in to write your own book - it is the single best business card you will ever give away.

We ran two book writing courses for advisers on 2025 and the results have been remarkable. Several advisers have published their books and others are well on their way to publishing books that establish authority, attract clients and open doors that normal marketing simply can’t.

Matthew was on our course and his book is being published this month.

We have just opened the doors to the 2026 course, beginning in mid January. If you want to hit the ground running this year, why not give yourself a rewarding and commercially valuable project and begin writing your own book?

The course guides you every step of the way, from idea to manuscript.

Find out more or join us here:
https://www.philipcalvert.com/book-writing-course/

What’s holding you back as a financial adviser?

Find out now when you take our quick and free personalised assessment:
https://adviser-momentum.scoreapp.com/

That’s it for this week…

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As always, thanks for reading and see you next time.

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