Being honest, this isn't the story that many in the industry predicted. There's been a lot of talk about AI reducing the need for outsourced professional support.  

We've been watching that conversation closely, and happily the reality we're seeing is quite different.

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‍What's driving growth at Verve?

In 2025 we laid the groundwork by strengthening infrastructure companywide – sweating the small stuff on processes to make sure our capacity matches our growth.

And now, the strongest demand is coming from compliance services (including training and competency, regulatory consultancy and file checking), plus paraplanning, technical and propositional support - the areas where human expertise, professional judgement and trusted relationships matter most.

For larger and more complex work in particular, our project management capabilities are proving to be a real differentiator, including asset migrations, proposition development, complex compliance projects.  

Clients are telling us directly that this is where they see our value. Not only as a resource, but also as a partner who understands their business.

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What about AI?

As you know, we've been keeping our finger firmly on the pulse.  

Our Spotlight webinars run every three weeks, and our regular AI think tanks with Verve members mean we're constantly hearing from the people at the coalface of advice businesses. You can watch almost all of them back on our AI hot topic page.

What we're seeing is that AI is making inroads into more repetitive, process-driven tasks. Admin processing, letters of authority, that kind of thing. That's no surprise.  

But rather than reducing demand for expert support, it appears to be reshaping where that support is needed most, and freeing up capacity for the higher-value, more complex work where our team excels.

In short: the advisers we work with are leaning into human expertise, not replacing it with AI.  

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A broader trend

It's not happening in isolation. As regulatory complexity grows and Consumer Duty expectations intensify, advice firms of all sizes are placing a greater premium on specialist outsourced support, and that’s true from newly authorised advisers to major networks and consolidators. They all need support that goes beyond minimum requirements and moves their business forward in a meaningful way.

We've been working with advice firms since 2009. We know this sector, and we know what firms need to thrive in it, so we’re very proud that these results reflect that. More to come in Q2!

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