Financial services support specialist Verve has reported a record-breaking first quarter of 2026 for its human-led services.
The results come despite widespread predictions that advances in artificial intelligence would reduce demand for outsourced professional support across the advice sector.
The strong performance has been driven by surging demand for paraplanning, compliance consultancy and training and competency (T&C) services, as financial advisers continue to place a premium on expert human judgement.
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Verve’s chief commercial officer Darren Lowry, said: “We have been keeping our finger firmly on the pulse when it comes to AI.
“Our Spotlight webinars, which run every three weeks, and our regular AI think tanks with Verve members mean we are constantly hearing from the people at the coalface of advice businesses.
“What we are seeing is that AI is making inroads into more basic, repetitive tasks, such as admin processing and letters of authority, and that is no surprise. But the overall picture tells a very different story.
“Demand for our services is up, and the areas seeing the strongest growth are those where human expertise, experience and judgement simply cannot be replicated. We dedicated a lot of time last year to making sure our infrastructure is ready for more.
“For larger, more complex projects in particular, our project management capabilities are proving to be a real differentiator, and clients are telling us that is exactly where they see our value.”
Verve, which has been supporting advice firms since 2009, offers a comprehensive range of services spanning compliance support compliance (including consultancy, file checking, and training and competency,) paraplanning, technical and propositional support.
The business works with firms of all sizes, from newly authorised advisers through to major networks and consolidators.
