The UK’s fiduciary management market has seen the number of mandates fall for the first time since 2008 as more defined benefit (DB) schemes prepare their endgame plans, according to Isio’s 2025 fiduciary management survey.

The mandate count dropped by 4 per cent over the year to 30 June, from 865 to 832, driven largely by schemes completing buy-ins and buyouts.

Indeed, buy-in activity more than doubled year-on-year, rising from 13 in 2024 to 30 in 2025, and almost half of all mandate reductions were directly linked to insurance transactions.

Isio said this rapid rise in risk transfer reflected both strengthened funding positions and widespread insurer-friendly pricing.

Despite the fall in mandates, the market’s overall asset base remained resilient.

Total fiduciary assets under management held broadly steady at £241bn, supported by strong investment performance and continued appetite for delegated support through partial and OCIO arrangements.

In addition, partial fiduciary assets increased 4 per cent to £68bn, and while OCIO appointments remained relatively few in number, they now account for more than half of all fiduciary assets, driven by several multi-billion-pound delegations.

Indeed, more than 60 new mandates were awarded during the period, showing that although more schemes are exiting after securing insurance, new schemes continue to adopt the model.

However, the survey signalled that endgame planning was the defining theme of the year.

It revealed that half of fully delegated schemes are now targeting an insurance-based long-term objective, and run-on strategies are becoming more prevalent among schemes in surplus that wish to retain control of assets for longer.

Only 13 per cent of schemes have yet to set an endgame objective, a proportion expected to fall further as regulatory pressure increases.

The research suggested that rising funding levels have underpinned these shifts: almost three-quarters of fiduciary mandates are now funded above 90 per cent on a technical provisions basis, while more than a third are fully funded - representing a 44 per cent increase over the past three years.

With around a quarter of fully delegated mandates expected to reach buyout within three years, Isio argued that the market is moving decisively from deficit recovery to managing surplus and ensuring portfolios remain resilient and insurance-ready.

Meanwhile, the composition of the provider landscape has remained broadly stable, though ongoing consolidation - particularly among consultants expanding their in-house asset management capabilities - is influencing both market structure and potential conflicts of interest.

Consultants continued to dominate in terms of mandates, while investment managers still held the largest share of assets.

However, the survey showed that fee patterns are shifting, with average fees increasing for mandates of up to £50m for the first time in three years, although pricing continued to fall for mandates above £500m.

Nonetheless, the gap between “best ideas” and “cost-effective” portfolios remained significant, with Isio estimating a difference of around £180,000 a year for a £100m scheme.

The proportion of overall fees attributable to in-house funds also continued to rise, which may prompt renewed scrutiny of how fiduciary managers demonstrate independence in fund selection.

On the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) front, priorities across fiduciary mandates remained largely steady.

Isio found that more than 60 per cent of schemes continue to operate with net-zero commitments, and around 40 per cent have carbon-reduction targets, although there was limited change in the adoption of new climate-related metrics.

However, Isio noted that a broader set of ESG themes is emerging, including biodiversity, nature, diversity and inclusion, and modern slavery.

Indeed, the consultancy suggested that evolving disclosure frameworks such as the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) and the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures are likely to push the market further in this direction.

Commenting on the survey, Isio head of fiduciary management oversight, Paula Champion, said the findings reflected a market that is transitioning into a new phase.

She observed that the slowdown in mandate growth after more than 15 years of expansion highlighted the growing number of DB schemes in a position to complete insurance transactions or adopt long-term self-sufficiency strategies.

Champion argued that the stability of total assets, despite fewer mandates, underscores the model's resilience and the growing role of partial and OCIO mandates.

She also emphasised that fiduciary managers are now central to helping schemes redesign portfolios, strengthen governance and maintain clarity as they prepare for buyout or run-on.

For schemes that choose to continue delegating investment decisions, Champion concluded that a fiduciary approach can provide the structure, oversight, and confidence needed during the final stages of the DB journey.

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