Andy Burnham's first major speech as Prime Minister set out an ambitious objective. The new government will aim to deliver "good growth in every postcode" through a rebalancing of economic power away from London and the South East to regions that have lagged behind for decades. The emphasis was on devolution, regional growth, housebuilding, infrastructure and local economic empowerment.

There is a growing discussion within the wealth management sector about what a Burnham government could mean for investment, tax policy and long-term capital allocation. But beneath the policy debate sits a more fundamental question.

The government's objective is to direct more capital towards regional businesses, infrastructure projects and economic development. But who will actually connect households with these opportunities?

Governments can create tax incentives, reform pensions, establish investment vehicles and support capital markets. This alone does not get capital moving. That happens through distribution systems.

The question underpinning Burnham's ten-year plan is whether the UK currently has the financial distribution infrastructure needed to make that vision work.

Why investment distribution matters to Burnham's growth agenda

When governments discuss growth, they usually focus on the supply side of investment:

• How can more businesses access capital?
• How can infrastructure projects secure funding?
• How can productive assets attract investment?

These are important questions, but they focus largely on the creation of investment opportunities and not how households engage with them. It is the distribution layer that connects households with investment opportunities through things like financial advisers, wealth managers, investment platforms, workplace channels, guidance services, digital tools and targeted support. It’s the route through which individuals discover, understand and invest.

The distribution layer is important because creating investment opportunities does not automatically create investors. Every growth strategy needs a mechanism that turns savings into investment. Without that, increasing the supply of assets does not necessarily lead to higher participation.

How UK reforms are increasing investment capital

Burnham's growth agenda does not exist in isolation. Alongside the government's regional growth ambitions are several initiatives aimed at increasing the flow of capital into long-term UK investment opportunities.

The Mansion House agenda is designed to encourage pension schemes to allocate more capital towards assets like infrastructure, private markets and growing businesses. The aim is to mobilise a larger proportion of long-term pension capital into investments that support economic growth.

At the same time, the Leeds Reforms were introduced to strengthen UK capital markets and make it easier for businesses to raise capital. And pension reforms and wider efforts to mobilise long-term savings are also intended to increase capital available for domestic investment opportunities.

Collectively these initiatives are all aimed at allowing the UK to create more investment opportunities, direct more capital towards productive assets and encourage greater participation in long-term investment.

Once those opportunities are created though, how do millions of households find them, understand them and decide whether to invest? That is the point where the distribution challenge begins.

How does the current distribution model work, and what could the future look like?

The FCA's advice market survey provides the clearest picture of the UK's current distribution infrastructure.

The sector currently oversees approximately £1tn of assets under advice, serving around 9% of the population (4.1m clients) and employing roughly 31,000 advisers. Since 2021 the number of authorised advice firms has fallen by 15% while adviser numbers have remained steady. The traditional advice model works for those with complex wealth, but the model needs to diversify if it is going to be useful to a bigger slice of the population.

Digital platforms such as Trading 212 and EToro offer greater scalability but depend on customers actively looking for investment opportunities themselves. Banks could also play an important role because they already hold extensive customer financial information and have stronger digital engagement capabilities. NatWest’s recent acquisition of Evelyn Partners highlights that this diversification is already happening.

Large consolidators, vertically integrated wealth managers and platform providers will benefit from being able to combine scale, customer data, technology and investment expertise. Workplace channels, meanwhile, also have a role to play in providing wider opportunities for employees to invest outside their pensions.

Targeted support may be one of the most important reforms in Burnham's Britain

Targeted support allows firms to make suggestions to groups of customers with similar characteristics without providing fully personalised recommendations. Finalised in 2026 alongside reforms to ongoing advice requirements, it is designed to support more scalable, lower-cost customer engagement.

Most firms understandably view targeted support as a regulatory reform. Through the lens of Burnham's growth agenda, however, it starts to look much more like distribution infrastructure.

Traditional advice requires individual conversations with clients. Targeted support allows engagement with thousands of customers simultaneously through repeatable and compliant frameworks.

The FCA has described targeted support as a 'once in a generation' reform, and major providers are already developing propositions ahead of wider adoption. For larger wealth managers, platforms and consolidators, it could be a new distribution channel reaching households traditional advice models have struggled to serve. If policymakers really want more households to participate in long-term investment and regional growth, these kinds of scalable engagement models could be essential.

What Burnham's growth agenda means for wealth managers

Burnham's ten-year plan is directly relevant to wealth management strategy. Firms could benefit massively from the UK creating more domestic growth opportunities, mobilising pension capital, expanding private markets and increasing participation in investment. Competitive advantage in this environment may not necessarily be about manufacturing investment products. Instead, it could come from being able to distribute those products to households.

Viewed through that lens, consolidation, targeted support, AI-enabled client engagement and workplace propositions are different parts of how capital finds its way from savers to investors.

The unanswered question: can investment reach more households?

Burnham's growth agenda is usually discussed in terms of transport, housing, taxation and devolution. But although it is often overlooked, capital is infrastructure too. Regions cannot support local businesses, retain wealth or build sustainable investment ecosystems if households cannot access the opportunities being created. The advice and wealth management market is a core part of this and more important than many policymakers appear to recognise.

The central question is whether the UK has an effective distribution system capable of connecting 91% of the population who don’t currently receive advice, with a way to do so. If not, Burnham's growth strategy risks becoming a supply-side investment agenda without an effective demand-side delivery mechanism.

To discuss what these changes could mean for your business and how your strategy may need to evolve, please contact Hugh Faircloth or your usual RSM contact.

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