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This is the last blog in my tips series on outsourcing, based on our latest research with the lang cat, CIPs in 2026: Tuning the Engine for Growth.

The first two blogs covered formal governance and holding providers to account to get the best out of an outsourced CIP. This final article looks at why firms should consider the future direction of their CIP, and how their operations may need to adapt as their business, and the market around it, changes.  

Anticipation is key

Across our three studies into how advisers construct their CIP, we’ve found that change is rarely brought about by sudden events. An Overheating CIP: 2024 – Ways to cool the engine, showed how firms running their own model portfolios often became a victim of their own success, as growing client numbers made the operational burden increasingly onerous. Rising requirements under MiFID II and Consumer Duty added further pressure, driving many firms towards outsourcing through MPS, as we discussed in our first blog.

Outsourcing has changed what a CIP looks like compared with five years ago, and Consumer Duty has also matured. The FCA’s current review of MPS focuses on providers, rather than advice firms directly, but that might not stay the case. Firms should think about whether their current CIP arrangement will still fit their own needs, and the regulator’s expectations, in five or ten years’ time.  

Investment partners

One of the areas worth looking at closely is whether your firm’s current investment partner will meet your clients’ needs tomorrow as well as today. Our research highlighted growing interest in custom MPS. We asked firms to imagine what their CIP usage will be in ten years and found 42% of firms saw tailored models playing a role in their clients’ investments. Currently, 8% of firms use a custom model service, rising to almost a quarter (23%) among firms with £500m to £999m in assets. The research points to where things are heading, particularly for firms that are large enough to want portfolios that reflect their own investment thinking but don’t have the specialist resources to manage investments entirely in-house.

Strategic Financial Solutions, an advice firm working with Copia on a custom model, is an example of what this looks like in practice. Director Paul Scott believes the model is more about collaboration than a typical provider relationship. He says, “I originally thought Copia would be order takers, but it is a partnership,” adding, “This model comes down to teamwork.”

As we have identified over the past two blogs, the ongoing demands of compliance, suitability and due diligence are creating new challenges for firms. Because DFMs share more of the governance workload with a tailored model than an off-the-shelf MPS service, they are well placed to help growing firms manage those demands.

Looking ahead

Our research shows the trend to outsource looks set to continue, but it is evolving, with firms increasingly considering custom solutions built around their own clients. As firms grow and the market matures, CIPs need to keep pace, which means tightening governance, holding providers to closer account, or moving towards a more tailored arrangement. A CIP sits at the centre of how clients’ investments are managed, so it’s worth getting the right structures in place now, rather than waiting until the arrangement starts to strain.

You can read more about our research with the lang cat in CIPs in 2026: Tuning the Engine for Growth >