Information on authorised firms providing credit references (Articles 89A and 89B) – April 2026

1. Can you tell me the number of individuals in the UK authorised to provide retail investment advice by age range for the years 2026,2025,2024,2023,2022,2021 and 2020, for each of the following age groups :

Under 25
25-29
30-39
40-49
50-59
Over 60

2. Can you also tell me the total number of advisers in the UK authorised to provide retail investment advice for the years 2026,2025,2024,2023,2022,2021 and 2020.

We do not hold the data for 2020 broken down by age group. This is because 2020 covers a transitional period following the introduction of the certification regime and is on the basis that they had at least one of the following involvement types which are from the full definition of a retail investment adviser from the FCA handbook[1]: 

• CPD2 - Personal recommendation on Securities (not SHP/PPP/Broker funds)
• CPD3 - Personal recommendation on derivatives
• CPD4 - Personal recommendation on retail investments (not broker funds)
• CPD6 - Personal recommendation on Friendly Society tax-exempt policies (not Holloway)
• CPD12 - Personal recommendation/dealing in securities (not SHP/PPP/Broker funds)
• CPD13 - Personal recommendation/dealing with derivatives

For reference, CPD stands for Continuing Professional Development, which is the ongoing training that Retail Investment Advisers undertake to meet FCA competence standards.

Please note that advisers were included if they were active at any point during the year, not only at the year-end. Ages were determined as of year-end, except for 2026, which is based on 24 March 2026.