Buy IFA leads in the UK: an honest buyer's guide

What does "buying IFA leads" actually mean?

"IFA leads" covers at least four different products, and a lot of the disappointment advisers describe comes from buying one while expecting another.

• An enquiry. Someone filled in a form. You get a name, a number and a self-declared pot size. You do the calling, and you usually pay whether or not they ever pick up.
• A filtered lead. The same, with a minimum pot size or advice type applied. Better targeted, still a contact detail.
• A booked appointment. Someone agreed a time to speak to you. Some suppliers charge at booking, so a no-show is still your cost.
• An attended meeting. You pay only if the meeting takes place. Everything depends on how "attended" and "qualified" are defined.

Exclusivity cuts across all four. A shared lead goes to several firms and you race to be first. Even an exclusive one doesn't stop the consumer contacting other advisers themselves.

Where do UK advisers buy leads?

The market splits into six groups:

• Lead-generation agencies run ads under their own brands and sell you the form fills.
• Pension lead sellers do the same, filtered by pot size, typically from £50k or £60k.
• Directories and marketplaces such as Unbiased and VouchedFor charge per enquiry on top of a subscription. General marketplaces let several professionals respond to one request (see Bark for financial advisers).
• Appointment setters contact the prospect and put a time in your diary.
• Pay-when-they-sit services charge only for meetings that happen. We're one; we're not the only one.
• Campaign agencies run your own ads or LinkedIn outreach for a monthly fee plus media.

For head-to-head detail on the two big directories, see the Unbiased alternative page and the VouchedFor alternative page, or compare Unbiased and VouchedFor head to head.

What do IFA leads cost in the UK?

Here's the price ladder from suppliers' own published figures, checked on 27 September 2026. They're advertised prices, not invoices, and the units differ: an enquiry, a booking and an attended meeting are different products.

Supplier-published prices as at 27 September 2026. VouchedFor's enquiry prices are announced for 1 October 2026. Check VAT: some sellers quote ex VAT, others advertise "no VAT". Our row is highlighted.

What is the cost per attended meeting?

The sticker price is the least useful number. What matters is the cost of an attended first meeting with someone who fits, then the cost per client won. In between sit three rates: how many leads you reach, how many book, and how many turn up.

Take a £239 enquiry. If half reach an attended meeting, you've spent £478 per meeting before the subscription and VAT. If a third do, it's £717. Those rates are assumptions for illustration; no directory publishes its enquiry-to-meeting rate. On the other side, one supplier-hosted case study reports a 15% lead-to-client rate on 319 pension leads, which at £144 a lead is about £960 per client in lead spend alone.

Pay-per-show isn't automatically cheaper. £500 is more than most single enquiries, and a firm with a fast call team converting cheap leads can beat it. What it does is move the no-answer and no-show risk off your desk. Here's our price as a cost per client:

Illustrative: appointment spend per new client at £500 per qualified show. Your results depend on your fees, speed and proposition. We don't publish an InvestmentsBooked conversion rate.

We compare the full cost of each route in how much IFA leads cost.

What should you check before buying IFA leads?

Whoever you buy from, put these questions to them in writing. If a supplier can't answer clearly, that's your answer.

• FCA status of the seller. Is the legal entity on the FCA register, with what permissions? "FCA compliant" is a marketing phrase, not authorisation. Either way, the FCA's introducer alert (updated July 2026) says you remain responsible for business you accept.
• Source and consent. Which adverts generated the enquiry, and who approved them? What was the consumer told, and did they agree to hear from your firm by name?
• Exclusivity. How many firms receive the same person? Is that in the contract?
• Pot definition. Is the figure pensions only, total wealth, or "investable assets"? Is it self-declared or checked? What happens if it's lower?
• Show and refund policy. What's credited: bad numbers, non-responders, no-shows, wrong wealth? By when, and as cash or credit? Unbiased won't refund non-responsive consumers once contact details check out; VouchedFor gives three working days and excludes missed follow-up meetings.
• DB handling. Are final salary transfer seekers screened out? If they aren't, your PI insurer will want to know.
• What the introducer does. The FCA warns against introducers completing fact-finds or risk questionnaires, or steering clients towards products. Qualification should be facts and intent only.
• VAT and contract. Is the price plus VAT? (A 2025 tax tribunal treated one lead seller's service to IFAs as VAT-exempt, which is why some advertise "no VAT".) Is there a subscription, a monthly minimum or a notice period?

Your compliance team will have its own list. We've written one for them: Consumer Duty and buying leads.

What are the red flags when buying pension leads?

• Adverts that offer a free check or review of someone's pension. The FCA tells consumers that an unexpected offer like that is a common sign of a scam.
• Any sign of cold calling, bought data or "survey" lists. Unsolicited pension marketing calls have been banned since January 2019, with limited exceptions.
• Leads that arrive with a completed risk questionnaire or a product already in mind.
• Heavy DB transfer volume, or ads about accessing a final salary pension early.
• No legal entity, no company number, or a website that looks like a consumer directory but sells enquiries to the highest bidder.
• LinkedIn approaches offering leads for a share of your commission. Professional Adviser reported advisers caught out by exactly this in February 2026.
• "Guaranteed clients" or conversion rates with no denominator, dates or sample size (we don't publish conversion claims at all; we publish our show test instead).

There's a longer version in pension lead red flags.

Can you get free financial adviser leads?

Not as a product, not at any scale. The closest things to free are the ones you build: client referrals, introductions from accountants and solicitors, and your own content. Referrals still do most of the work. NextWealth's 2026 benchmark found 56% of new business came from existing-client and family referrals, down from 67% in 2025, while marketing rose from 6% to 13%. A lead product advertised as free is usually a trial of a paid service, so read what you're agreeing to.

Why do we sell shows instead of leads?

Because the expensive part of buying leads is rarely the price per lead. It's the work between the lead and the meeting: ringing numbers that don't pick up, chasing people who've forgotten filling in a form, and finding out you're the third firm to call. Every enquiry that never becomes a conversation still has to be paid for.

So we sell the booked meeting instead, and charge only when it happens. The client has already asked to speak to one independent firm, picked a time and been told advice is paid for. If they don't turn up, the credit goes back to your balance. We don't give pension advice ourselves; the advice, and the client relationship, are yours.

We don't put conversion claims or testimonials on this site. What you can judge before you spend anything is the price, the show test and the credit rules, all published in full. After that, your own numbers tell you: you mark every outcome yourself, so you can see booked, attended, charged and credited for your firm.

What do you get from InvestmentsBooked?

A first meeting with a UK saver holding £250k–£3m in defined-contribution pensions (self-declared, reconfirmed on the call), who has been told advice is paid for and that your firm pays us for the introduction, and who asked to be booked with one FCA-authorised independent firm. They're told your firm's name and FRN as soon as you claim, before the call. Each appointment comes with a brief like this:

Illustrative appointment card. Details are examples of what the qualifier captures, not a real client.

You set a minimum pot band (£250k, £500k or £1m), advice areas, regions, meeting types, DB holders yes or no, and a weekly cap, and you can pause any time. DB transfer seekers are excluded by default. During onboarding you get our introducer due-diligence pack: sources, example approved adverts, the qualifier script, consent wording, data-sharing terms and our complaints process.

The minimum purchase is 10 appointments (£5,000), credits are valid for 6 months, and no-shows, cancellations not rebooked within 7 days, invalid details and upheld disqualifications go back to your balance, with a fresh 6 months expiry. The full show test is on the pricing page; sourcing and consent are on lead quality; and the booking process is on how it works.

Which appointment types can you buy?

Every appointment is typed by what the client wants help with:

• Pension leads: consolidating several pots, or reviewing investments and charges.
• Retirement planning leads: at or near retirement, weighing drawdown, an annuity or both.
• Inheritance tax planning leads: planning for most unused pensions coming into IHT scope from 6 April 2027.
• High net worth leads: the £1m–£3m band, for firms with high minimums.

All four are on the appointment types page.

Sources and checks. Supplier prices from their own sites as at 27 September 2026: LeadCrowd, Lurvo, Professional Leads, RMT Direct and its IFA offer, Lead Tech, Lead Pronto, ADsorbed, Planwright, PromoSEO; GAP GNX figure via theppcmachine. Directories: Unbiased enquiry prices, refund policy and exclusivity; VouchedFor enquiry prices from 1 Oct 2026, membership and refund policy. Referrals: NextWealth FABB 2026. Regulation: FCA introducer alert, FCA pension scams, ICO on PECR; VAT: Performance Leads Ltd v HMRC (2025); LinkedIn introducers: Professional Adviser. Supplier prices change often; check before you buy. Figures checked 27 September 2026. InvestmentsBooked is not authorised by the FCA and does not give financial advice.

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