What is a fact-find in financial advice?

Quick answer

What is a fact-find in financial advice?

A fact-find is the structured discovery meeting where an adviser collects detailed information on a client's finances, goals, risk tolerance and personal circumstances, required before giving regulated advice.

A fact-find is the core data-gathering stage in regulated UK financial advice. The adviser collects income, assets, liabilities, family circumstances, goals, risk tolerance, capacity for loss and ATR/CFL scoring. Fact-find completion is the "true" conversion event in a lead generation system — not form fill — because it is where client commitment is revealed.

Reviewed by Platinum Prospects Editorial. Last updated April 2026.