Discretionary MPS assets have broken through the £200bn barrier after surging 32% in a year, according to NextWealth’s 2026 MPS Asset Update report.
Assets grew by £50bn to £208bn in the 12 months to the end of Q1 2026, with £18bn added in the past six months – a period in which financial markets were broadly flat. The discretionary MPS market continues to grow at a much faster pace than the broader platform market, with the former growing at 9% over the last six months versus 3% for the latter.
Quilter Wealth Select continues to dominate discretionary MPS net asset growth with a remarkable growth rate of 34% over the past year. Tatton, which remains in second place in terms of total MPS assets, made the top 10 net asset growth table despite de-linking £3.7bn of Perspective Group assets.
Costs correlated with asset growth – but demand for active portfolios holds steady
For the first time, the report analysed the relationship between total cost and asset growth. Of the 52 DFMs evaluated, NextWealth found that firms with an average total cost below 50bps grew assets by an average of 30% over the past 12 months, while firms charging more than 50bps grew by 20% in the same period.
Asset-weighted fees declined from 0.54% to 0.49% in the year as a result of the continued growth of low cost passive providers.
Heather Hopkins, Founder and CEO of NextWealth, says: “Price continues to be a driver of growth for model portfolios. Firms with an average total cost below 50bps grew assets by an average of 30% in the past year compared to 20% for those charging more than 50bps.
“That said, price isn’t the only driver. Active portfolios have managed to maintain their market share and their pricing. Active portfolios make up more than one third of assets in MPS and the total cost for hybrid and passive portfolios has fallen roughly three times faster than for active in the past two years.
“Price is important but DFMs continue to differentiate on service and performance, as well as price.”
The rise of strategic partnerships
The report also found that the majority of MPS providers are focusing on strategic partnerships to embed and grow their market share. Among firms offering co-branding (where the DFM manages the MPS but includes the advice firm’s branding), Tatton and Pacific are the largest by assets.
Top 5 DFMs by assets in co-branded models
Among DFMs offering tailored models (where the advice firm and the DFM sit on a joint investment committee, but the DFM has a majority vote and runs the MPS), LGT ranks largest for assets with more than double the AUM of the next largest.
Top 5 DFMs by assets in tailored models
Hopkins says: “Partnerships have become a vibrant part of the market representing a viable approach to building relatively secure assets quickly. In a competitive market, new entrants realise that they need to identify and build key partnerships to gain momentum. Simply offering a broadbrush proposition is a challenging route to success.”
