The latest story out of the advice industry tells us everything we need to know about how the system really works. It’s not about clients. It’s about the enablers cutting deals among themselves—each side trying to see who can extract the most from the people they claim to serve.
Citywire reports that True Potential is actively courting St James’s Place (SJP) advisers, offering to pay off the loans that keep them tied into the SJP network. These loans—worth an eye-watering £603 million in total, averaging £123,000 per adviser—were originally dressed up as “support” to help advisers buy client books. In reality, they’re shackles. If advisers want to leave, they must first pay SJP back.
Now, True Potential dangles a new lure: jump ship, and your loan gets covered. Not for free, of course. The repayment is quietly clawed back later, deducted from the final payout. Same chains, different master.
Industry infighting, not client care
This isn’t innovation. It’s industry infighting. A tug-of-war over who can own the adviser and, by extension, the client. It’s about securing fee flows, not improving advice quality. While advisers are locked in these corporate chess games, where do the clients stand? They’re the pawns—transferred, leveraged, and monetised without meaningful say.
ChatGPT said:
Here’s a clear, concise summary of the new True Potential adviser recruitment offer compared with the old one:
Old Offer (withdrawn after FCA review)
- Advisers received 8% of client assets transferred to True Potential.
- Transfers were conducted via non-advised “direct offers” through online forms.
- Heavily incentivised movement of client money onto True Potential’s platform/funds.
- Result: £400m spent on deals (2022–23), £100m redress provision, FCA section 166 review.
New Offer (from 2025, under CEO Gerry Mallon)
- Advisers must join True Potential for at least 2 years as self-employed.
- At exit, advisers receive a payout worth 12x their annual advice fee revenue, capped at 0.5%.
- Equivalent to ≈6% of client assets (lower than the previous 8%).
- Payout is not dependent on platform transfers (ostensibly removing conflict).
- Advisers can still earn initial advice fees during their tenure.
- Designed to appeal particularly to retiring advisers seeking an exit deal.
Key Context
- True Potential’s flows collapsed after dropping its 8% deals: from £800m net inflows (Q4 2023) → £100m (Q4 2024).
- The firm is majority-owned by private equity firm Cinven and carries £1.2bn in debt.
- New deals are generous (12x vs market norm of 3x), but repayment periods mean it could take 12 years for TP to recoup costs.
- Success depends on regaining growth without breaching FCA scrutiny, satisfying private equity backers, and persuading sceptical IFAs.
👉 In short: the old “8% asset transfer bribe” is gone, replaced by a “12x revenue exit deal”, with advisers tied in for two years. It’s less obviously conflicted, but still fundamentally about securing flows to feed a highly leveraged, private-equity-owned machine.
The private equity playbook
Scratch the surface, and the story deepens. True Potential is not really “independent.” It’s majority-owned by Cinven, an offshore private equity giant, since 2021. That deal was funded with over £1 billion of debt, much of it raised in Guernsey at interest rates as high as 11.3%.
This is the classic private equity playbook:
- Load the business with debt.
- Use tax-deductible interest to reduce the UK tax bill.
- Funnel revenues into servicing debt and satisfying investors, not clients.
- Chase rapid growth—more advisers, more clients, more assets—because servicing that debt demands it.
Even with revenues of £407 million in 2023, EBITDA of £220 million is heavily eroded by interest costs. Profits that could strengthen client services—or simply flow into HMRC’s coffers—disappear offshore.
A pattern of redress and risk
Let’s not forget: True Potential has already been through an FCA section 166 review, with £100 million set aside for redress after questionable client transfers. Its “direct offer” method, designed to onboard assets at speed, drew regulator attention for good reason.
This isn’t just about one firm. It’s a pattern across private-equity-backed wealth managers. AFH, acquired by Flexpoint Ford, has faced similar scrutiny for incentivising client transfers and embedding in-house funds.
The bigger picture
What we’re watching is a feeding frenzy. SJP advisers are pressured by internal debt and shifting fee models. True Potential swoops in with a tempting offer, financed by offshore borrowing, while both sides fight for market share.
Who loses? The very people these advisers are supposed to serve. Clients become bargaining chips in a high-stakes game of musical chairs, while systemic risks mount:
- High leverage in private equity threatens stability.
- Tax avoidance structures undermine the UK’s fiscal base.
- Redress costs signal harm already done to clients.
The irony is that both SJP and True Potential parade themselves as champions of adviser empowerment. But behind the curtain, it’s a struggle between competing rent-seekers.
Real empowerment doesn’t come from swapping one master for another. It comes from freeing advisers—and their clients—from this extractive merry-go-round.
👉 If you’re an adviser tired of being treated as someone’s asset, or a client wondering how much of your wealth is fuelling this game instead of your future, it’s time to explore alternatives. Independent, product-free, transparent planning exists. The GAME Plan shows a different path—one where you own your future, not the enablers.
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Steve Conley
Founder, Academy of Life Planning | Architect of the M-Power Movement.
Academy of Life Planning 