The UK financial services industry is one of the most dynamic, complex and competitive markets in the world. With tens of thousands of firms and individuals shaping the ecosystem, it’s a landscape where change is constant. Keeping track of that change can be the difference between growth and missed opportunities.
The latest Landscape Report from ISS Market Intelligence tracks the more recent changes in the FCA Register & Directory data. The Winter 2025–26 report reveals a sector contracting in size but evolving in structure. Firms are consolidating, individuals are shifting roles and moving employers at pace, and new entrants continue to arrive. All of which has meaningful implications for any organisation targeting advisors, distributors, brokers or intermediaries.
In this blog, we break down the key trends from the report and what they mean for your U.K. sales, distribution and marketing strategies in 2026.
A Highly Fragmented but Shrinking Market
The headline numbers paint a picture of subtle but steady contraction across the industry. As of December 2025, there were 69,385 active FCA registered firms, representing a 1.7% drop in the last six months of 2025. Meanwhile, across all firm–individual combinations, the Register lists 271,273 roles, a fall of 1.2% during the same period.
The number of unique individuals (including those who may hold roles across multiple firms) now sits at 219,916, down 0.8%.
This slow reduction has been underway for the past few years, reflecting both regulatory pressures and industry consolidation. Yet within this contraction is continued fragmentation: while large firms employ thousands, more than 90% of firms have five Registered Individuals (RI) or fewer, and nearly 30,000 firms are still sole RI businesses. For anyone targeting advisors, this means distribution strategies must accommodate both ends of the spectrum.
Directly Authorised Firms Still Dominate the Advisor Landscape
Just over half of all firms are Directly Authorised (55%), yet they account for a striking 87.5% of Registered Individuals — highlighting their outsized influence on the market.
The profile of these two firm types couldn’t be more different:
- The average Directly Authorised firm has 19 Registered Individuals, including 13 Advisors
- The average Appointed Representative firm has just 2.1 Registered Individuals, of which 1.8 are Customer Advisors
These ratios held steady over the last six months of 2025, suggesting a stable regulatory environment but a structural divide that continues to shape advisor access and distribution strategies.
Understanding the Market Requires Going Beyond Firm Names
One of the biggest challenges (and opportunities) within the FCA Register and FCA Directory is the sheer diversity of firm activities and permissions. The Register spans everything from Credit Brokers (the largest segment) to Investment Advisors, mortgage specialists, and a wide range of niche financial services firms. MarketPro powered by Autus goes beyond these high‑level classifications by mapping what each firm actually does. This allows sales and marketing teams to target communications more precisely, reach the right subsets of advisors, and avoid wasting time on firms that fall outside their market. With nearly 70,000 firms listed, this type of segmentation is essential for anyone operating in the U.K. intermediary space.
Roles Are Becoming Broader, More Senior, and More Numerous
Following the introduction of the FCA Directory, the volume and diversity of individual roles has increased dramatically. There are now over 90 recognised activities, and many individuals hold several of them.
The largest role category is now Functional Senior Manager, which includes:
- SMF16 Compliance Officers
- Heads of Sales
- HR, Marketing and IT leaders
- Departmental heads not previously required on the Register
This expansion provides richer insight into organisational structures and creates more nuanced ways to target outreach. For example, you can use MarketPro powered by Autus to identify specific advisor types such as pension transfer specialists, equity release advisors, or long-term care specialists. For content and communications teams, this means being able to tailor messages to microsegments that were invisible five years ago.
An Industry Continuously on the Move
For sales teams relying on CRM systems, this level of churn is a major challenge. In H2 2025, movement within the industry remained high, with 3,400 individuals moving firms in just six months.
The majority of these moves occurred within the same segment, such as Investment Advice or Mortgage Advice.
As the report notes, salespeople rarely prioritise CRM hygiene, meaning contact data can quickly become stale. Tools like MarketPro powered by Autus can help to automate the updating and enrichment of CRM data. Our clients find that this is a crucial advantage when thousands of individuals are continually changing firms and roles.
Despite the overall contraction of the market, new entrants continue to emerge: 3,331 firms joined the Register in H2 2025, along with 9,317 first‑time individual registrants. However, these gains are outweighed by departures: 5,021 firms became deauthorised during the same period, and 13,261 individuals left the Register. The report also highlights the age profile of deauthorised firms: hundreds fail to survive their first two years, and nearly 1,500 exit before reaching their fifth anniversary. This level of churn presents both risk and opportunity for providers; the organisations that closely track new entrants and departures will be best positioned to engage firms ahead of competitors.
A Closer Look at the Investment and Mortgage Advice Markets
The report breaks down the Investment Advice sector into four categories:
- DFM/Stockbroker
- Wealth Manager
- Wealth/Investment Advisor
- Holistic Financial Planner
Holistic Financial Planners remain the largest group by individuals, while Appointed Representatives of these firms hold the largest number by firm count.
Meanwhile, in the Mortgage Advice market, Appointed Representatives of Mortgage Event Advisors form the largest group of firms, with Mortgage Event Advisors themselves making up the largest number of individuals.
However, the biggest story here is contraction: Mortgage Advice Bureau, previously the largest mortgage network, has lost 247 individuals, while Stonebridge has risen by 60. This shift might reflect broader weakness in the UK housing market.
General Insurance (GI): Shrinking but Still Substantial
The General Insurance market shows similar patterns:
- Directly authorised GI brokers have both the largest number of firms and the largest number of individuals
- Registered Individuals working in insurance broker roles dropped by nearly 1,000 in the final six months of 2025
What does all of this mean for your 2026 Distribution Strategy?
The data from this winter’s FCA Register update illustrates a market that is:
- Contracting, but still fragmented
- Highly dynamic, with constant role changes
- Seeing increased seniority and diversity in individual registrations
- Continuing to reshape both investment and mortgage advice segments
- Becoming harder to track without automation
For distribution teams, the message is simple: Your target market is changing every day. If your data isn’t, you’re falling behind. With tens of thousands of firms and individuals (most of whom are not your target market) precision matters more than ever.
Speak to the team today to update your CRM.
Author: Benjamin Reed-Hurwitz, Head of Research Development, EMEA & North America
