According to annual results, in the 12 months to year-end 2013, the firm’s Registered Individual (RI) numbers fell from 1,061 advisers to 673. This is a drop in advice firms from 576 to 329 over the year.
Annual turnover fell by 20% to £51m from £64.9m in 2012.
The firm’s gross profit margins increased 20% during the year with total expenses, including board costs, down by a total of 11%.
Profits rose 21% to £482,895, up from £399,431 in 2012 which the firm attributed to its new long-term business strategy of putting the consumer at the heart of its business.
The firm said its membership profile changed as it put quality ahead of quantity ‘de-risking’ the business.
Max Wright, chief executive officer at Personal Touch, (pictured) said the past couple of years have put some major demands on the adviser sector and networks particularly with the additional regulatory costs and need for vigilant risk management.
“We had to get rid of the dabblers and the firms that were draining resource at the expense of others. No other network has pro-actively terminated firms in the way we did, but no doubt others will follow our lead as those still practising the old model are increasingly proving how broken it is.”
He continued: “Over this period we have made decisions which at the time may well have appeared unusual or even reckless compared to others, but we knew it was absolutely essential for us to be ahead of the game and migrate to a new network model which put the consumer first.”
