Big Four continue to dominate FTSE 100 despite growing pressure
The dominance of the Big Four serving the FTSE 100 continued in the first quarter despite growing regulatory pressure.
The Big Four were the only auditing firms to serve the FTSE 100 last quarter with PwC retaining the top spot with 27 clients, closely followed by KPMG’s 26. Deloitte and EY served 25 and 22 firms respectively, according to Adviser Ranking’s latest figures released today.
PwC has retained a clear advantage over the field with 336 overall clients, down from 353 in the last quarter.
Challenger firm BDO added the most clients in the last quarter, increasing its net overall client figures by 7 to 281. Taken together with KPMG’s losses of 13 clients, BDO have narrowed the gap on second placed KPMG from 38 to just 18 clients in three months.
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BDO was helped by a migration within the FTSE 250. A succession of client wins, including Hyve Group, AJ Bell and Galliford Try, nearly doubled the auditor’s index count from the previous quarter to 11.
Galliford Try had previously been audited by PwC, AJ Bell by KPMG and Hyve by Deloitte.
The Big Four continue to enjoy a sizable advantage with FTSE 250 clients as PwC topped the list with 66 clients.
BDO now heads up the Basic Materials rankings after a new mandate for MJ Hudson Group and retains its top spot within the energy sector with 28 clients.
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