A renaissance in financial services consulting—and the opportunities that offers firms
The financial services sector accounts for almost 30% of the global professional services market, but it has seen only sluggish growth in the last 2-3 years. There are signs in our data indicating that’s about to change. But how will this resurgent financial services market be different?
Financial services (which in our definition comprises banking, capital markets, insurance, investment & wealth management, and private equity) has traditionally been the mainstay of the consulting and professional services sector. Even during downturns, the growing burden of regulation meant that financial services companies continued, albeit reluctantly, to rely heavily on external support: “Eighty percent of the money we spend on consultants goes on regulatory response—and almost all of that goes on technology, leaving us with very little to invest in transformation,” commented a senior banking executive we interviewed a few years ago. But the current slow-growth market has been unusual in that some areas of FS, notably banking, have underperformed, and the polycrisis isn’t a banking crisis, so there’s no massive wave of new regulation to drive this.
Is the tide turning?
Evidence in the data we gathered for our recent report on the financial services sector suggests that change is afoot.
Financial services clients are more likely than their counterparts in other sectors to say their confidence has not been damaged by the prevailing geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty, and are more likely to say that’s the case this year, compared to last.
A third of clients in FS say they feel they can cope with the polycrisis, double that of the healthcare and TMT markets, for instance. Perhaps that’s because FS executives are more likely to say they’re:
- Making effective use of automation
- Responding to slower consumer expenditure by thinking about customer value
- Forming strategic partnerships to help them explore the use of AI
Tellingly, FS clients see competition as one of the top two barriers preventing them from achieving their corporate goals; the other is an operating model that needs to change. When we compare what leadership teams are actively discussing in financial institutions to top-table conversations in other sectors, the former are more likely to be talking about customer experience and much less likely to be worrying about the nuts and bolts of their infrastructure. Unlike most other sectors, the picture we see here is of an industry that’s starting to lift its head above the regulatory parapet, take note of what challenger companies are achieving, and starting to adopt more market-driven initiatives.
What impact will this have on financial services clients’ use of consulting services?
Our research suggests that clients whose confidence has not been damaged by the external environment—we call them “determined” clients—expect to spend more on outside help. That’s the good news: The bad news is that they won’t necessarily be spending a lot more in the short term: In the next 12 months, 63% of FS clients think their expenditure on consulting will increase, but that’s a lower proportion than the more frightened energy & resources sector (where the equivalent proportion is 72%), healthcare & pharma (84%), and TMT (72%). “Determined” clients will spend more in the longer-term, but have sufficient confidence in their leadership teams, data, etc. to take time to plan their response (“frightened” clients, by contrast, want to act immediately).
That attitude is reflected in the types of consulting support financial services clients are most likely to buy. Here, the corporate shopping list is tilted a bit more towards technology strategy and away from technology implementation than it is within the healthcare & pharma and TMT sectors. There’s also more interest in scalable growth (growth strategy alongside productivity improvement), and people & skills—and less on regulation work.
Taken together, this data suggests that the new-look financial services market may be different to the old one, with less emphasis on regulation and supporting technology, and more on a rounder, more outward-facing agenda. With the average project size growing—the proportion of $1m-plus projects has more than doubled, rising from 21% in 2025 to 46% this year—this will be good news for multidisciplinary firms capable of supporting financial services clients’ strategy, growth, and people needs, as well as their technology ambitions.
Historically, the financial services consulting market has been a bellwether for the wider consulting industry. Changes here hint at the possibility of significant shifts across the market as a whole.
What should firms do next?
To understand more about the opportunities for your firm in the financial services sector, read our latest Market Trends report, which contains market-sizing forecasts, client needs intelligence, and the thoughts of global FS consulting leaders. Our sector experts here at Source can also share our very latest data and insights in a bespoke leadership presentation—bring along your knottiest strategic questions to discuss. For more information, get in touch today.