Professional trustee appointments have plateaued, but there could be a continued shift towards sole trusteeship as schemes mature, a new report suggests.  

The professional trustee market has seen the slowest growth in five years at just 1% between 2024 to 2025 for both co-trustee and sole trustee appointments, the latest ‘Sole mates’ report by consultancy LCP has found. 

“This softening trajectory for professional trusteeship may reflect a natural plateau as many schemes already suited to professional trusteeship have made the shift," the report suggests.

However, "going forward, we may see a move from co-trustee to PCST triggered by endgame planning, surplus management, sponsor changes and governance pressures," it adds, noting that there have already been a considerable number of new sole trustee hires that are not yet reflected in the current survey. 

LCP also pointed out that about half (47%) of schemes have no professional trustee, offering a potential opportunity for trustee firms. 

Market concentration, one of the regulator's concerns, continues. Just four companies manage 80% (£800bn) of the £1.1tn in scheme assets that professional trustee firms are responsible for, according to LCP.

Last year, more than half of all appointments went to four businesses. Independent Governance Group and Dalriada had a 17% and 16% share respectively. About one in 10 appointments each went to LawDeb and Zedra Governance.

The findings come ahead of a Department for Work and Pensions consultation on governance, expected this year. There is already increased scrutiny of the professional trustee market by the Pensions Regulator, which wants to see trustee standards become more aligned to corporate governance standards.

TPR’s chief executive Nausicaa Delfas said: “We know that professional trusteeship has experienced huge growth over the last few years, and we welcome the valuable insight and perspectives provided by this and other surveys. The Pension Schemes Bill is set to radically reform the market and there is now a real opportunity to make sure good governance runs through the system.” 

 

Delfas added: “To protect savers we have already extended our market oversight approach to the largest professional trustee firms. We expect professional trustee appointments to have followed a robust process, as trusteeship moves towards adhering to more conventional corporate governance standards." 

In line with the current slowdown in appointments by schemes, trustee firms have been recruiting slightly less aggressively than in recent years. 

  

LCP’s head of strategic pensions relationships, Nathalie Sims, noted that trustee firms’ hiring frenzy has been replaced by a more strategic approach to recruitment.  

 

“Our report shows a dynamic market that’s responding to regulatory change. As professional trustees take on more schemes and larger mandates, the regulator’s lens has sharpened — and questions around governance, independence and performance are now front and centre,” she said. 

Six firms have seen an increased level of recruitment, but five number have recruited less – often significantly less – while Dalriada recruited exactly the same number of people in 2025 as it did in 2024.  

On headcount, IGG remains the largest firm by far. Its workforce consists mainly of client-facing staff that are, however, not trustee directors. IGG is followed by Dalriada – who had the highest number of trustee directors last year – and Vidett. Zedra, Capital Cranfiel, Pi Partnership, LawDeb and Bestrustees form a tier of smaller companies, while Pan Trustees, ndapt, Entrust and MHM are boutiques.