Reference Case Number: FOI10026
Freedom of Information: Right to know request:
With the recent publication of Discussion Paper 23/2 Updating and improving the UK regime for asset management, it would be helpful to understand how many firms are currently authorised in each category of Part 4a permissions:
1. Managing investments
2. Advising on investments
3. Managing an AIF
4. Managing an unauthorised AIF
5. Managing a UCITS
6. Establishing, operating or winding up a collective investment scheme
FCA response:
We can confirm that we hold the requested information, which can be found in the table below.
| Category of Part 4A Permission | Number of authorised firms who hold each Part 4A Permission |
|---|---|
| Advising on investments, subdivided* into: | 1 |
| - Advising (ex Pension Transfers/Opt Outs) | 14,953 |
| - Advising on P2P agreements | 7,863 |
| - Advising on Pension Transfers/Opt Outs | 4,840 |
| Establishing, operating or winding up a CIS | 379 |
| Managing a UK UCITS | 127 |
| Managing an authorised AIF | 106 |
| Managing an unauthorised AIF | 1,180 |
| Managing investments | 2,321 |
* We have broken down the ‘Advising on investments’ permission into the subdivided permissions as set out in Table 1(j) in PERG 2 Annex 2 Regulated activities and the permission regime[1] in the FCA Handbook.
As previously explained in our response under reference FOI9766, following the UK leaving the European Union, FCA regulated firms previously listed as subject to ‘Managing a UCTIS’ permissions are now listed as ‘Managing a UK UCITS’.
Please note that one firm with all permissions listed above will count as 1 for each permission. Therefore, the sum of all the permission counts will not provide you with a count of the firm population.