The 10 largest professional trustee firms are now responsible for £1trn of pension scheme assets, Isio's 2025 professional independent trustee survey has revealed.

Isio's survey revealed that these 10 firms now manage over 2,400 pension schemes,
up from 2,300 in 2023, representing almost half (43 per cent) of UK defined benefit (DB) pension schemes (39 per cent in 2023).

Isio said the findings also supported The Pensions Regulator's (TPR) plans to introduce a new regulatory framework to ensure oversight of professional trusteeship.

Its research also showed that the 10 firms saw a year-on-year increase in trustee directors and revenue growth.

The number of trustee directors increased from 320 in 2023 to 350 in 2024, while average revenue was up 15 per cent, marking the fifth consecutive year of double-digit revenue growth.

The survey suggested that these firms' influence and reach would continue to grow and projected that they could be accountable for managing two-thirds of the DB market within the next five years.

Isio director, Harvi Rana, said the findings confirmed that professional trustee firms play an "increasingly central" role in the UK's pensions market.

"As DB schemes mature and reach critical phases in their individual journeys and endgame planning, the involvement of a professional trustee is clearly proving instrumental to securing the best possible future for these schemes," she continued.

"As a result of the success of professional trustees, particularly within the 10 largest firms in the industry, they have secured a position of integral importance in the UK pensions market, and their extensive operations are now attracting increased attention.

"The influence of professional trustees will continue to grow, and the regulator's intentions to introduce a new oversight framework reflects the increasingly key role they will play in safeguarding and securing the future of DB schemes," Rana added.

The survey also highlighted the rising trend of corporate sole trusteeship, which remained a key driver of growth in the professional trustee sector.

Corporate sole trustee appointments accounted for nearly half (48 per cent) of all appointments, up from 41 per cent in 2020.

Professional corporate sole trustees now oversee approximately £70bn in assets, with the largest scheme currently around £3.4bn in assets.

In addition, Isio found that 50 existing trustee appointments moved to a sole corporate trustee in 2024 and projected that corporate sole trustee roles could represent almost 70 per cent of all appointments in the next five years.

Meanwhile, the survey suggested that professional trustee firms continued progressing towards equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI).

Almost half (44 per cent) of trustee directors at the 10 largest firms were female, compared to just under one-quarter (24 per cent) in the wider trustee market.

The survey indicated a slower increase in the representation of ethnic minorities; just 8 per cent of trustee directors at the 10 firms come from ethnic minority backgrounds versus 5 per cent in the wider sector.

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