Research published by market intelligence platform Hackford points to a highly concentrated set of relationships between principals and appointed representatives, noting that reforms may follow in the wake of HM Treasury’s consultation on the existing regime that was conducted earlier in 2026.
According to HMT’s consultation – conducted between 12 February and 9 April – there are concerns that “poor oversight of some appointed representatives is putting some consumers at risk. The government intends to address this concern so consumers and businesses can have confidence in the regime and so that the benefits provided by appointed representatives can continue well into the future.”
Hackford’s figures suggest the 10 largest principal firms account for 62% of in-scope appointed representative firms.
The UK Fund Host Report 2026 analyses FCA principal and appointed representative relationship data across 42 principal firms and 940 active appointed representative firms in fund-related categories including investment management advisers, hedge funds, venture capital, growth capital and private equity.
The findings show that regulatory hosting remains an important route to market for fund managers and investment firms, but that growth is being captured unevenly: despite 230 new active appointed representative relationships over the 42 principals in the past 12 months, only 48% of principal firms grew their AR count. The remaining 52% stagnated or declined.
Additional key findings from the report include:
● 62%: Share of active in-scope appointed representative firms hosted by the 10 largest principal firms.
● 113: Active in-scope appointed representative firms hosted by Langham Hall, the largest principal in the report.
● 38%: Share of active in-scope AR firms classified as investment management advisers, the largest activity category in the cohort.
● 69%: Share of active in-scope AR firms accounted for by investment management advisers and private-market-related categories combined.
Dan Robinson, founder and CEO of Hackford, commented: “Reg host firms are a key piece of infrastructure behind UK fund and investment firm launches. Our analysis shows this is definitely not a static market, but instead concentrated with fierce rivalry. New AR relationships are created, firms move, but growth is only captured by a small set of firms.”
“Fund hosting is definitely more dynamic than it can look from the outside. There were 230 new active ARs in the past 12 months, but fewer than half of the principal firms grew their number of ARs. That means business is available, but it’s not flowing very evenly. For hosts, advantage definitely comes from knowing when fund managers and investment firms are forming or moving before those changes become obvious to the rest of the market.”
