The FCA published its Wealth Management Survey Report 2026 on 18 August 2026. The trade press has led on fees, financial crime controls and artificial intelligence. The finding that matters most to an accountant is in the market structure section: the ten largest firms by client numbers now serve 89% of discretionary management clients, a share the FCA describes as "up 19% since we conducted the first survey in 2022".
FCA warns wealth managers over fees, financial crime and AI risks (Money Marketing, 18 August 2026)
The regulator's data says the market is narrowing towards its largest firms, whose services are built around investable assets. A client whose wealth is a trading company, a director's loan account and a pension unreviewed since 2019 is not the client those services are designed around. That makes the choice of financial planner, and what the accountant contributes, more important.
The survey covers the firms in the FCA's wealth management supervision portfolio: more than 5.5 million retail clients and almost £1 trillion of assets, with around 400 firms responding and 320 of them carrying out portfolio management. It is the third round, and 234 firms have completed all three since 2022, which is what makes the trend readings possible.
FCA, Wealth Management Survey Report 2026.
The data runs to submissions made up to 31 December 2024, filed by May 2025. The picture is around eighteen months old.
Concentration is not in itself bad for clients. The FCA's report notes that all firms now refresh their Know Your Client checks, against 8% failing to do so in 2023/24.
Concentration changes how well the service fits each client. The larger the firm, the more standardised its service: a central investment approach, model portfolios, a relationship manager with several hundred clients, and a joining process that asks first what the client has to invest. None of that asks whether a company should make an employer pension contribution before the year end, whether the cash at the bank is working capital or surplus, or whether the shareholder protection that was never arranged is a bigger exposure than the asset allocation. Those are business questions, visible in the accounts before they are visible on a fact-find. Six of them are in six situations in the accounts that call for a financial planner.
The accountant holds the history, the timing and the corporate structure. The Equity & General financial planner holds the analysis, the recommendation and the responsibility for it. That is the split in what the accountant does and what the financial planner does.
The FCA does not say wealth managers charge too much. It says pricing "is not always clear, easy to compare or applied consistently across different services and client groups", and it cites its Financial Lives 2024 survey, in which 17% of adults with £100,000 or more of investable assets who used a named wealth management firm were concerned that fees were high, hidden or complex. The FCA also asks firms to consider whether portfolio turnover delivers value.
Accountants already ask what a lease costs, what the finance charge on a van comes to and what the bank charges. The equivalent question about a client's investments, in pounds, is one the accountant can ask.
The lang cat's State of Advice Report 2025 puts the average new advised client portfolio at £411,000. On that amount, each 0.25% of annual charge is £1,028 a year, or £10,280 over ten years before any growth.
Illustration using a made-up client and no particular firm's charges.
The lang cat’s average new advised client portfolio; no particular firm’s charges
The FCA reports that 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, while 18% are considering winding down or selling all or part of their client base. Clients of firms in the second group are moved to another firm.
An accountant sees the consequences in the numbers. Charges change when clients move onto the acquirer's platform. Holdings change when clients are moved onto a house model portfolio, and a move can crystallise gains that land on a tax return the client was not expecting.
The FCA recorded 13% of surveyed wealth managers using in-house or third-party AI tools, rising to 45% including those considering it. Its framing is that used well, AI "can reduce friction, improve efficiency and help close the advice gap so more consumers who could benefit from support and advice receive it", alongside warnings about fraud, cyber security and consumer harm.
The FCA's Financial Lives 2024 survey found that 8.6% of UK adults had taken regulated financial advice in the previous twelve months, and 13% of the self-employed. The FCA's targeted support reforms are covered in targeted support is live and works from provider data.
The findings describe the market at 31 December 2024. Whether the ten largest firms have gone past 89% will show in the next survey round.
The fair value finding is an expectation about pricing clarity. Whether supervisory work or a rule change follows is not yet published.
The 13% AI figure was measured eighteen months ago. Whether adoption means more people served, or the same people served more cheaply, is for the next survey.
Neither is a regulated activity, and neither requires an opinion on anyone's investments.
It matters as a service question. The FCA's Wealth Management Survey Report 2026 records that the ten largest firms by client numbers serve 89% of discretionary management clients. Scale is not a fault, and large firms can run tighter controls. Scale does change the shape of the service: model portfolios, a relationship manager with a large client list, and a service designed around investable assets. The service may not be designed for a client whose finances are mostly a trading company, a director’s loan account and an unreviewed pension.
Yes. Asking what something costs is a factual question about the client's affairs. Advising on, arranging or recommending an investment, product or course of action, or giving an opinion on whether the client's existing arrangement is suitable, is regulated. Establishing the annual cost in pounds and recording it is not. Judging whether it is good value and what the client should do instead is work for the Equity & General financial planner.
Three things. The charges, because an acquisition can move clients onto the acquirer's platform and charging structure. Continuity, because the relationship is with the person the client dealt with. The investment approach, because a move onto a house model portfolio can change the underlying holdings and crystallise gains that reach the next tax return. The FCA's 2026 survey found 41% of surveyed wealth managers planning acquisitions or growth of more than 25%.
No. Its finding is about clarity. The report says pricing 'is not always clear, easy to compare or applied consistently across different services and client groups', drawing on the FCA's Financial Lives 2024 survey, in which 17% of adults with £100,000 or more of investible assets who used a named wealth management firm were concerned that fees were high, hidden or complex. If the cost is hard to compare, a client cannot judge value, and the accountant can put a figure on it.
Not on the evidence so far. The FCA's 2026 survey found 13% of surveyed wealth managers using AI tools, rising to 45% including those considering it, and the regulator says that used well AI 'can reduce friction, improve efficiency and help close the advice gap'. The FCA's Financial Lives 2024 survey found that 8.6% of UK adults had taken regulated financial advice in the previous twelve months.
Equity & General holds the FCA authorisation. There is no charge to your firm, and a named partnership director works with you from the first introduction.