The UK investment management industry is booming – and the numbers prove it. According to the latest figures from the Investment Association (IA), total assets under management hit a record-breaking £10 trillion in 2024, marking a 10% year-on-year increase.
It’s a remarkable milestone that reflects a year of strong market performance, growing overseas interest, and a surge in retail investor participation. For the first time, overseas clients now account for more than half of UK-managed assets, while retail investors have overtaken pensions as the largest single client group.
In this latest episode of the Wealth DFM Talk Podcast, hosts Sue Whitbread and Matt Williams are joined by Miranda Seath, Director of Market Insight and Fund Sectors at the Investment Association, to assess what’s behind these record-breaking figures and what they mean for wealth managers, advisers, and the wider investment community.
Together, they discuss:
- What’s driving the UK investment management sector’s 10% AUM growth
- Why overseas investors are increasingly choosing UK firms to manage their assets
- How retail investors are reshaping the market and what this means for future product and advice trends
As Miranda explains, these shifts reveal both opportunities and challenges for the UK as a global centre of investment excellence and for advisers helping clients navigate an evolving marketplace.
Listen now to the Wealth DFM Talk Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Amazon!
Miranda Seath
Miranda leads the IA division analysing data and trends in UK investment management, producing evidence-based insight to support the IA’s policy agenda. Her team provides insight to members and external stakeholders through the annual Investment Management Survey, monthly retail funds market commentary and the IA’s investor research. Miranda is also responsible for the IA Sectors, the fund classification scheme designed to help UK investors navigate the retail fund universe.
Miranda joined the IA in May 2019. Before joining, she was Research Director at Platforum and NextWealth, research and consulting firms focused on retail investment distribution. She regularly speaks and comments in the press on trends relating to retail investors, the funds market and retail investment distribution.
