The professional trustee market has stabilised, with professional corporate sole trusteeship (PCST) continuing to drive growth, accounting for 38 per cent of new appointments and overseeing more than £90bn in assets, according to LCP's sixth annual Sole Mates report.

The report found that professional trustees now oversee around £1trn of defined benefit (DB) assets across 53 per cent of schemes, prompting LCP to argue that professional trusteeship has moved from a "governance option to the default".

Of the 47 per cent of schemes without a professional trustee, the majority have assets of less than £50m, and LCP suggested this could be linked to limited budgets.

The report noted stable assets under management mask significant shifts within the professional trustee market, with firms increasingly specialising by appointment type and scheme size.

It also found that professional trustee firms are competing for a shrinking pool of appointments.

LCP partner Nathalie Sims said the real story is what professional trustee firms do to keep their place in the market: “With fewer than half of UK DB schemes now remaining without a professional trustee, firms are competing for a shrinking pool of opportunities.

"Underlying growth is also being offset by scheme attrition as the number of DB schemes has fallen by around a third since 2012.”

PCST remained the market's main growth driver, with more than £90bn of DB assets now under management, up over £30bn since 2023.

The number of PCST appointments more than doubled over the past six years to 1,260, while the largest appointment now exceeds £4bn after growing by almost 50 per cent in the past year.

LCP head of sole trusteeship, Holly McArthur, commented: “The biggest change we have seen over the period is the innovation in sole trustee delivery.

"From improved governance processes via tech, to developing team structures to best service this unique type of appointment.

"This evolution is no surprise given the amount of pensions assets that are now being stewarded by PCST, with schemes over £4bn in size opting for this governance approach.”

Other findings showed that 110 of the 181 professional trustee appointments made since June 2025 were for schemes that had not previously used a professional trustee or PCST.

The report also found that 18 firms account for most appointments, with the three largest firms looking after nearly 1,200 schemes.

Meanwhile, competition intensified, with more than 40 switches between professional trustee firms and PCST switches almost tripling year-on-year.

The Pensions Regulator executive director, market oversight, Ben Gunnee, concluded: “Strong governance is essential to good member outcomes. As the market continues to evolve, professional trustees must be able to demonstrate independent decision-making, effective management of conflicts and clear accountability, giving members confidence that their interests come first.”

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