Professional & Financial Services UK-wide

Fund and asset management rules

If you manage portfolios or collective investment funds, your rules sit on top of the duties every regulated firm shares: the managing investments permission, the UCITS management regime for retail funds, the UK AIFM regime — including, for full-scope managers, depositary appointment and the AIFM remuneration rules — and climate-related financial disclosure for larger managers.

Guide summary

You must hold a managing investments permission from the FCA before you can manage client portfolios or funds. If you run a retail UCITS fund, you need authorisation under the UCITS regime. If you run an alternative investment fund, you must register under the UK AIFM regime and appoint a depositary. Larger asset managers must also publish climate-related financial disclosures.

  • Apply for FCA Part 4A permission to manage investments
  • Register as a UCITS management company for retail funds
  • Register under the UK AIFM regime for alternative funds
  • Appoint a depositary for each authorised fund
  • Publish climate disclosures if you are a larger asset manager
  • Operating without permission is a criminal offence
  • Agreements made without permission may be unenforceable
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This guide covers fund and portfolio management, on top of the shared duties in run a regulated financial services firm. Everything here applies UK-wide.

Hold the managing investments permission

Discretionary portfolio management is a regulated activity — you need the managing investments permission before running client portfolios.

Run funds under the UCITS or UK AIFM regime

Managing a retail UCITS fund and managing an alternative investment fund are distinct regimes: UCITS management carries the retail fund rulebook, while UK AIFMs follow the AIFMD-derived regime — reporting, and for full-scope managers the appointment of a depositary to safeguard fund assets and the AIFM remuneration rules (sub-threshold AIFMs operate under a lighter registration regime; the remuneration rules differ from the investment-firm code — see investment firm and trading venue rules for that regime).

Disclose climate-related risk

Larger asset managers must publish climate-related financial disclosures aligned to the TCFD framework — an entity-level report and product-level disclosures.

Next steps

Make sure the shared duties in run a regulated financial services firm are in place, then confirm everything with the financial intermediary compliance checklist.