More than half of financial advisers have seen their business impacted by poor service from platforms, new research by Parmenion has indicated.

The group’s new report, The Impact of Poor Platform Service, showed that 54% of advisers believe poor platform service has a significant impact on their business.

However, this figure was down from 80% in last year’s report, suggesting platforms are working to improve the service they offer.

Most advisers still said they have had to apologise to clients in the past 12 months because of poor service from platforms, but at 90% this was an improvement from last year’s 95%.

Parmenion’s findings also indicated that two in five (40%) advisers have changed platform because of service standards, while the average adviser said they still lose four hours a week dealing with platform issues.

“In contrast to a rather dismal 2024 report, this year’s research shows platforms are taking steps in the right direction,” Parmenion CEO, Martin Jennings, commented.

“Advisers have told us that service standards are rising, although there is further to go. There are still many pain points for advisers and dealing with frictions caused by platforms is costing advisers valuable hours each week which should be spent serving their clients.

“Transfers in particular are a source of problems for many advisers and a clear example of where our industry is falling short when it comes to client service. We hope to see greater transparency and accountability moving into 2026 so that next year’s report highlights great strides rather than small steps.”

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