Reported total revenue earning from retail investment intermediation fell by 1% to just under £4.4bn according to data drawn from the FCA’s retail mediation activities return (RMAR) for 2020.

Revenue earned from fees and charges for retail investment business in 2020 was £3.66bn (2019: £3.64bn).

The share of retail investment revenue accounted for by commission continued to fall, down from 16% in 2019 to 14% in 2020 (£633.59m).

The reported number of retail investment adviser posts across all firms fell slightly to 36,377 from 36,401 in 2019. Posts at financial adviser firms accounted for 76% (27,501) of these. Within these, firms with over 50 advisers accounted for 49% of all adviser posts in 2020, up from 47% in 2019.

For firms providing retail investment advice, those providing independent advice accounted for 61% of revenue earned from adviser charges (up from 59% in 2019) and those providing restricted advice accounted for 39%. The share of revenue from adviser charges accounted for by ongoing advice services increased to 74% from 70% in 2019 and the share accounted for by initial/one-off advice services fell to 26%. This continues a trend seen in recent years.

Revenue from non-investment insurance distribution rose by 1.2% to £18.62bn.

The RMAR enables the FCA to supervise the activities of firms that provide advice on, or arrange, mortgages, insurance and retail investment products for consumers.

The RMAR data has been published since 2016.