Assets in discretionary model or managed portfolio services (MPS) experienced strong growth in the six months to the end of Q1 2025, growing 11% and adding £15bn in assets. While over recent years we’ve reported on the rapid decline in fees and increased allocation to passive tracker funds, downward pressure on fees seems to have eased. The market remains healthy and competitive with a diverse group of providers showing strong asset growth.

This report, updated bi-annually, forms part of NextWealth’s research and insight into the investment propositions of financial advisers. It is based on data from 54 DFMs, more than in any previous report.

NextWealth publishes market reports on adviser tech and financial advice business models. We moderate bespoke workshops and host quarterly events  bringing together thought leaders in their field through our DFM Council and Council for Fund Distribution. Email enquiries@nextwealth.co.uk for further information.

Who this report is for

This asset and pricing update, along with our more comprehensive December report comparing propositions, is intended for people in strategy, proposition, distribution and marketing roles in asset management firms, platforms and DFMs. The report quantifies assets in discretionary MPS, compares propositions from leading providers and tracks changes over time. It is for anyone who wishes to understand the UK MPS market in detail, including for strategic planning, market assessments, board reports and broader general research purposes. The report can be used by:

• DFMs to benchmark their proposition against the competition, including pricing, assets and asset growth.
• Asset managers to identify the fastest growing DFMs, to fine-tune distribution efforts and to better understand the ambition of their DFM partners.
• Platforms to prioritise DFMs to add to the platform, develop functionality to support DFMs in managing money on behalf of advised clients on platform, and better understand emerging platform DFM propositions.
• Financial advice businesses can use this report to understand the proposition and differentiators of their DFM partners and to benchmark their own outsourced investment proposition.
• Private equity firms and consolidators can use this report to identify takeover targets and the competitive environment in this rapidly changing market.

Methodology

The data in this report is collected through NextWealth surveys of financial advisers and employees of financial advice businesses, interviews with senior executives of DFM firms and data provided by 54 DFMs.

What we heard about last year’s report?

“At Omnis we subscribe to NextWealth MPS research report and it gives us a really good overview of what is happening in the industry outside of our world, what are the key trends, in terms of fees, types of solutions available and how advisers are using the solutions in the realm of other solutions available to them, so it allows us to get that industry knowledge of whats going on. Second of all, from a consumer duty and consumer outcome perspective, it allows us to make sure we remain competitively priced and we use it as part of our value assessment of our discretionary propositions to ensure were delivering the best value for clients both in terms of costs as well in terms of delivering the objectives the MPS has.” –  Rohit Vaswani, Investment Director, Omnis Investment

You can complete the form to the right to pre-register for a report sample. The full report is available to purchase. Get in touch with enquiries@nextwealth.co.uk for details.