The real constraint in advice firms is capacity

Insights from Tom Matthieson, Founder & Director, Glimzer

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Capacity, not regulation

When people talk about the challenges facing financial advice firms, regulation is usually the first thing mentioned.

But in conversations with advisers, operations teams and firm leaders, a different constraint comes up far more consistently: capacity.

Not a lack of demand. Not a lack of intent to do the right thing for clients. Simply a lack of time and headroom in the day‑to‑day running of the business.

Advisers want to spend time with clients. Firms want to serve more people, improve consistency and grow sustainably. What gets in the way is the volume of administrative work required to keep everything moving. Manual updates. Duplicated data entry. Chasing information across systems. Maintaining spreadsheets alongside core platforms just to get a clear picture of what’s going on.

None of this work improves client outcomes. But it quietly consumes hours every week.

What’s striking is how normal this has become. Many firms accept admin drag as the cost of doing business, even though it directly limits how many clients they can realistically support. As teams grow, the problem often gets worse. More people means more handoffs, more checks and more effort spent reconciling information rather than using it.

Tools built for records, not delivery

A big part of this comes down to the tools firms rely on. Much of the infrastructure used in advice today was designed primarily to store records, not to support how advice is actually delivered in practice. Over time, firms adapt around these systems, building workarounds and manual processes to keep things running. The result is friction that feels unavoidable, but isn’t.

Small fixes that unlock capacity

At Glimzer, we’ve been spending time listening closely to how advice firms actually work day to day. What becomes clear very quickly is that small improvements in how information flows through a business can unlock meaningful capacity. Capturing data once instead of multiple times. Making workflows clearer. Giving teams visibility without having to build reports by hand.

This isn’t about changing the role of the adviser or introducing more complexity. It’s about removing unnecessary work so firms can use the capability they already have more effectively.

Collaboration matters

Being part of the FinTech Scotland community matters to us because these problems aren’t solved in isolation. They sit at the intersection of advice delivery, operations and technology, and they benefit from a shared perspective and honest discussion.

Our aim at Glimzer

We’re building in this space with a simple aim: to reduce friction, give advice firms back time and help them serve more clients without stretching their teams thinner. We’re keen to learn from others who are thinking about the same challenges, and to contribute to a broader conversation about how better infrastructure can support the future of advice.