FCA Wealth Management Survey 2026: Key Insights And FCA Expectations For Wealth Managers

The FCA has published its wealth management survey report 2026, providing firms with data and sector insights to help them understand the market, compare their approach and raise standards.

The findings are based on 2025 survey data from 400 wealth management firms, supported by regulatory returns and other sources, including the FCA’s Financial Lives survey, the Financial Services Register and ONS data.

In this year’s survey, the FCA has placed particular focus on discretionary fund managers, which make up 65% of the firms in the UK regulated wealth management sector, with more than 5.5 million retail clients and almost £1 trillion of assets under management.

Our blog post outlines the FCA’s key findings in each of the areas covered by the survey, together with the conclusions it has drawn from its analysis and the priorities for firms in the wealth management sector. 

Portfolio Overview and Market Structure

Key data points highlighted by the FCA include:

• The wealth management sector serves a wide range of clients. Digital tools and model portfolio services are often relied on more by firms serving smaller portfolios. There is a strong retail focus across the wider market: retail consumers comprise more than 99% of clients.
• There is more concentration in the retail client market for discretionary management. The 10 largest firms by assets under management have remained broadly stable, but the 10 largest firms by client numbers now serve 89% of clients. This represents an increase of 19% since the FCA conducted its first wealth management survey in 2022.
• Approximately 29% of wealth managers also offer financial advice; the FCA notes that this can help them to offer a more joined-up service to their clients.
• Firms monitor portfolios at different intervals, from daily to quarterly. Getting the ‘right’ approach to this depends on a firm’s size, services and clients. However, the FCA’s view is that more regular monitoring and automated systems can help firms to identify and act on issues at an earlier stage.

The survey also found evidence of confidence on the part of firms: 41% of the firms surveyed plan to acquire another firm, grow revenue or increase their client base by more than 25% over the next two years. By contrast, 18% of the firms surveyed are considering winding down or selling all or part of their client base.

In 2025, the FCA conducted a review of consolidation in the wealth management and financial advice sector (see our blog post for more information). It found that consolidation can support efficiency and growth, as well as stronger governance and financial resilience. However, the FCA also identified the potential for poor outcomes where rapid growth is not managed effectively. These could include poor client service, weaknesses in business continuity and, in some cases, disorderly failure.

In the survey report, the FCA therefore re-emphasises that as firms grow, governance, oversight and controls must keep pace, to ensure clients receive consistent outcomes.

Digital Transformation, AI and outsourcing

The survey found that the wealth management sector remains strongly relationship-led: face-to-face contact continues to be important for onboarding, supporting clients and client decisions. Firms are, however, making greater use of contact centres and digital channels for certain tasks, including investing, withdrawing funds and sending instructions. In addition, mass-market firms are often focused on digital communication channels and may offer limited (or even no) person-to-person support or advice.

The FCA-commissioned Mills Review on AI and its impact on the future of retail financial services anticipates a transformational shift by 2030, with AI embedded across more of the systems delivering and controlling these services (see our blog post for an analysis). The survey asked firms whether they use AI to support activities such as direct client communications, fraud detection, decision making and control efficiencies. The FCA found that: 

• 13% of the firms surveyed used in-house or third-party AI tools, rising to 45% when the numbers include firms that said they were considering using AI in the 12 months following the survey.
• While overall use remains limited, firms adopting or considering AI represent a large share of the market. 
• This is a fast-moving area and AI adoption rates may now be higher. 

Data from other sources indicates that consumer demand for digital services is rising. In the FCA’s view, technology and AI can help firms improve services, strengthen controls and reach consumers. However, firms must use these tools responsibly and understand the risks.

The survey also looked at outsourcing, finding that 92% of the firms surveyed outsource part of their business - most commonly for technology, trade execution, assurance and oversight.

While acknowledging the benefits of outsourcing for these firms, the FCA reminds them that relying on third parties creates dependencies. Firms retain responsibility for the services they provide and must have strong oversight to ensure clients receive consistent outcomes.

Financial Crime Controls

The FCA has re-emphasised its focus on financial crime as being central to its regulatory strategy. It views regulated firms as a ‘vital line of defence’ and expects them to set up practical control structures that keep pace with the rapid technological advancements in the sector, as noted in the preceding section. 

The FCA has seen progress within the sector since its 2023/24 survey, remarking on the increased frequency of KYC refreshes and the adoption of an increasingly risk-based approach, driven by client risk assessments. Despite this progress, the FCA highlights a number of areas of continued control weaknesses. 

In particular, the FCA noted issues with high-risk customers, where some firms do not refresh checks after trigger events or at least once a year, with around 6% of firms failing to check whether clients are politically exposed persons, who may carry a high financial crime risk. Some firms also failed to carry out adverse media screening, which may mean they miss risk indicators.

Other issues were identified, with a relatively high 26% of firms failing to collect expected transaction frequency, 13% not recording expected investment amounts and around 10% not verifying source of wealth. In addition, around 7% of firms failed to carry out sanctions screening, with the FCA highlighting that firms risk committing a criminal offence if they fail to comply with UK sanctions without authorisation from the Office for Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI).

The FCA concludes by noting that it “will continue to work with firms and partners to raise standards, tackle financial crime and build resilience”. While this does reflect a real willingness at the FCA to work with firms to improve their financial crime systems and controls, behind this lies a very real threat of enforcement action where the FCA deems a firm’s conduct to be particularly egregious. Many of the financial crime themes referenced by the survey feature prominently in recent Enforcement outcomes, and 96 of FCA Enforcement’s current portfolio¹ of 127 cases involved financial crime, with 37 of these being criminal cases. 

Vulnerability and Fair Value

The FCA’s findings on vulnerability show an improving picture although it identified continued inconsistency in firms’ approaches. In 2024/25, 83% of portfolio managers reported identifying at least one client with characteristics of vulnerability - up from 68% in the FCA’s first survey - and around 36% of affected clients received some form of adjustment to the service provided.

However, the FCA considers that firms’ approaches remain uneven. In particular, some firms have yet to develop sufficiently service-specific procedures and staff training. The FCA also expects firms to keep clients’ circumstances under review, rather than assuming that an assessment made at the outset of the relationship will remain appropriate throughout. 

Fair value presents a less consistent picture. The FCA found evidence of firms carrying out substantive value assessments and, where appropriate, moving clients to alternative services. At the same time, it identified concerns about whether some charging models, including fixed fees, work fairly for clients with smaller portfolios, as well as whether levels of portfolio turnover continue to produce appropriate outcomes.

The question of client understanding also remains relevant. Although 71% of adults with investable assets of at least £100,000 who used a named wealth manager reported no concerns or dissatisfaction, 17% raised concerns about the level, transparency or complexity of fees. Taken together, the findings reinforce the need for firms to test their services and communicate the value clearly to clients.

Diversity and Talent 

The FCA’s data also highlights the continued underrepresentation of women among investment managers. Women account for approximately 16-17% of investment manager roles, with representation falling from 17-18% among those under 50 to 11-12% among those over 50 years of age. By comparison, the FCA’s 2025 advisor survey found that women are included in 60% of client relationships. 

The FCA therefore sees scope for firms to broaden the pool from which they recruit and develop investment managers, particularly given the mismatch between workforce and client demographics. The age profile of the profession has otherwise changed little over the past five years, with a median age of approximately 42 for women and 47 for men.

Key takeaways for firms

As the survey findings make clear, the wealth management sector is changing quickly, with rapid growth, consolidation, increased use of technology and a wider range of clients being served. Firms must understand FCA expectations, use technology responsibly, maintain strong financial crime controls, and, as they grow, ensure governance and oversight keep pace.

The survey has been run three times since the original 2022 survey. The FCA does not intend to repeat the survey in 2026, but aims to issue a shorter version in 2027 focused on portfolio management activity.

Footnote

1 As at 31 March 2026.