The members present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2026.
The principal activity of the LLP is the provision of investment management services.
During the year the LLP became part of the wider Equilibrium group following a transaction under which the group is now backed by Sovereign Capital Partners, alongside the existing Equilibrium management team. As a result of the transaction, the individual members of the LLP resigned during the period and the members of the LLP are now Equilibrium Investment Management Holdco Limited and Equilibrium Financial Planning Holdco Limited, both part of the wider Equilibrium group. Colin Lawson continues as Chief Executive Officer and the wider management team remains in place, providing continuity of leadership, culture and investment process throughout the transition.
The financial year ending 31 March 2026 was one of continued development for the business, marked by significant geopolitical and economic uncertainty. Global markets contended with the continuing impact of trade tariffs and shifting policy from the Trump administration throughout the year, alongside heightened political tension across a number of regions. Towards the end of the period, ongoing conflict in the Middle East added to this uncertainty, contributing to renewed volatility across equity, bond and commodity markets. In this environment, the diversification within our portfolios and our active approach to asset allocation remained central to managing risk on behalf of our clients. Over the period, our asset-weighted performance across all funds rose by 8.3%.
Against this backdrop, the business delivered strong growth in both turnover and funds under management. Turnover for the year increased by 7.9% to £6.56m, with funds under management increasing to c£1.42bn, reflecting both market growth and the continued confidence of our clients in our investment approach. Client retention remained strong at 97.2%. As we continue to build the business, we have invested further in our people, technology and operational capabilities during the year, positioning the business well for the future.
The majority of the assets managed by EIM are invested in the IFSL Equilibrium funds. We remain committed to responsible investing and continue to embed Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) principles across all portfolios. We maintain regular engagement with our fund managers to ensure alignment with the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investing.
Changes in legislation have continued to affect portfolios in various ways. Most directly, changes to business relief (BR) in the UK has affected the portfolios we run to manage inheritance tax. A large proportion of clients have moved out of our AIM (Alternative Investment Market) portfolio to our portfolio of other business relief products.
Following the implementation of our portfolio management system in prior years, we have continued to realise the benefits of improved efficiency, reduced risk and cost savings. We continue to develop our investment research database to create better management information and to streamline investment research.
We continue to support our local community through a range of initiatives, including three paid charity days per team member, payroll giving, and matched donations for fundraising activities.
Future outlook
With the current economic and market outlook still shaped by geopolitical tension, the near term picture remains uncertain. Much will depend on the outcome of talks to end the conflict in Iran, which could have an impact on a range of asset classes. In particular, the conflict appears to have pushed up inflation and made it more likely we might see interest rate increases.
Stock markets continue to look a little on the expensive side to us, and we remain somewhat wary of a further pull back in markets. As a result, we are typically holding less equities in some portfolios than we often do. Instead, we are typically holding more in certain types of fixed interest (bonds) where we find current yields attractive. This leads us to believe that the portfolios can continue to produce strong returns.
Despite these challenges, we remain confident in our investment strategy and our ability to deliver strong outcomes for clients. The Investment Management Committee continues to provide rigorous oversight of our asset allocation and fund selection processes, ensuring that portfolios remain aligned with client objectives and market conditions.
As part of the wider Equilibrium group, the business is well positioned to benefit from the group's growth strategy, which combines continued organic growth with a buy and build approach. To support this, the group has strengthened its leadership during the year with the appointment of a Mergers & Acquisitions Director, an Operations Director and a Chief Financial Officer. These appointments, together with the backing of Sovereign Capital Partners, provide the operational and financial infrastructure to support scalable, sustainable growth across the group in the years ahead.
Technology continues to play an increasingly central role in how we operate. Building on the progress made in prior years, we have significantly expanded our use of artificial intelligence across the business, from investment research and analysis through to our wider operational processes. This allows our team to focus their time and expertise on the areas that add the greatest value for our clients, while improving the consistency and depth of our investment decision-making.
Looking ahead, we will continue to enhance our research capabilities and invest in technology to improve operational efficiency. Our focus remains on delivering consistent, risk-adjusted returns while maintaining our commitment to responsible investing.
We thank our clients, team, and stakeholders for their continued trust and support.
Principal risks and uncertainties
The firm operates in a highly regulated environment and remains alert to the potential impact of regulatory and legislative changes. The FCA's Consumer Duty has now been fully embedded into our processes and continues to guide our decision-making.
Cyber security remains a key area of focus, particularly as attacks across the industry continue to grow in sophistication. We work closely with a specialist provider to ensure our systems are secure and resilient, provide ongoing training to our team, and support our clients through educational workshops on cyber safety.
During the year, the wider Equilibrium group was awarded Cyber Essentials Plus certification. This is a nationally recognised, government-backed standard that requires rigorous, hands-on independent assessment and real-world testing of our security controls. Achieving it confirms that those controls have been independently tested and verified, and that we are actively protecting our systems against the most common cyber threats. We regard this as a significant achievement that reflects the strength of our security culture across the business and our ongoing commitment to keeping our data, our systems, our clients and our people safe.
Reputational risk is managed through strong internal governance and due diligence processes. We regularly assess our relationships with external partners to ensure they meet our standards.
We continue to monitor economic and political risks and conduct regular stress testing to ensure the business remains operationally resilient under a range of scenarios.
The members' drawing policy allows each member to draw a proportion of their profit share, subject to the cash requirements of the business.
The designated members who held office during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were as follows:
The auditor, Azets Audit Services, is deemed to be reappointed under section 487(2) of the Companies Act 2006.
As the LLP has not consumed more than 40,000 kWh of energy in this reporting period, it qualifies as a low energy user under these regulations and is not required to report on its emissions, energy consumption or energy efficiency activities.
The members are responsible for preparing the annual report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.
Company law (as applied by The Limited Liability Partnerships (Accounts and Audit) (Application of Companies Act 2006) Regulations 2008) requires the members to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law the members have elected to prepare the financial statements in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice. Under company law (as applied by The Limited Liability Partnerships (Accounts and Audit) (Application of Companies Act 2006) Regulations 2008) the members must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the limited liability partnership and of the profit or loss of the limited liability partnership for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the members are required to:
select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
make judgements and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the limited liability partnership will continue in business.
The members are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the limited liability partnership’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the limited liability partnership and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006 (as applied by The Limited Liability Partnerships (Accounts and Audit) (Application of Companies Act 2006) Regulations 2008). They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the limited liability partnership and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
We have audited the financial statements of Equilibrium Investment Management LLP (the 'limited liability partnership') for the year ended 31 March 2026 which comprise the profit and loss account, the balance sheet and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including FRS 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
Basis for opinion
Conclusions relating to going concern
In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the members' use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.
Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the limited liability partnership’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.
Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the members with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.
Other information
A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at:
https://www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor's report.
Extent to which the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud
Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above and on the Financial Reporting Council’s website, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud.
We obtain and update our understanding of the entity, its activities, its control environment, and likely future developments, including in relation to the legal and regulatory framework applicable and how the entity is complying with that framework. Based on this understanding, we identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. This includes consideration of the risk of acts by the entity that were contrary to applicable laws and regulations, including fraud.
In response to the risk of irregularities and non-compliance with laws and regulations, including fraud, we designed procedures which included:
Enquiry of management and those charged with governance around actual and potential litigation and claims as well as actual, suspected and alleged fraud;
Reviewing minutes of meetings of those charged with governance;
Assessing the extent of compliance with the laws and regulations considered to have a direct material effect on the financial statements or the operations of the entity through enquiry and inspection;
Reviewing financial statement disclosures and testing to supporting documentation to assess compliance with applicable laws and regulations;
Performing audit work over the risk of management bias and override of controls, including testing of journal entries and other adjustments for appropriateness, evaluating the business rationale of significant transactions outside the normal course of business and reviewing accounting estimates for indicators of potential bias.
Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control.
We have nothing to report in this regard.
Use of our report
This report is made solely to the limited liability partnership's members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006 as applied by the Limited Liability Partnerships (Accounts and Audit) (Application of Companies Act 2006) Regulations 2008. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the limited liability partnership's members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor's report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the limited liability partnership and the limited liability partnership's members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
The profit and loss account has been prepared on the basis that all operations are continuing operations.
Equilibrium Investment Management LLP is a limited liability partnership incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is Ascot House, Epsom Avenue, Handforth, Wilmslow, Cheshire, United Kingdom SK9 3DF.
The limited liability partnership's principal activities are disclosed in the Members' Report.
These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice "Accounting by Limited Liability Partnerships" issued in December 2021, together with FRS 102 “The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland” (“FRS 102”) and the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the limited liability partnership. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.
The LLP is a qualifying entity for the purposes of FRS 102, being a member of a group where the parent of that group prepares publicly available consolidated financial statements, including this LLP, which are intended to give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss of the group. The LLP has therefore taken advantage of exemptions from the following disclosure requirements for parent company information presented within the consolidated financial statements:
Section 7 ‘Statement of Cash Flows’: Presentation of a statement of cash flow and related notes and disclosures;
Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instrument Issues: Interest income/expense and net gains/losses for financial instruments not measured at fair value; basis of determining fair values; details of collateral, loan defaults or breaches, details of hedges, hedging fair value changes recognised in profit or loss and in other comprehensive income;
Section 26 ‘Share based Payment’: Share-based payment expense charged to profit or loss, reconciliation of opening and closing number and weighted average exercise price of share options, how the fair value of options granted was measured, measurement and carrying amount of liabilities for cash-settled share-based payments, explanation of modifications to arrangements;
Section 33 ‘Related Party Disclosures’: Compensation for key management personnel.
The financial statements of the LLP are consolidated in the financial statements of Equilibrium Investment Management Holdco Limited. These consolidated financial statements are available from Companies House, Crown Way, Cardiff, CF14 3UZ.
At the time of approving the financial statements, the members have a reasonable expectation that the limited liability partnership has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus the members continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.
Turnover represents the fair value of consideration received or receivable in the normal course of business, net of discounts and value added tax. Initial and ongoing fees, which are calculated as a percentage of the value of the funds under influence are recognised on an accrual basis when the service has been provided. These fees are introduced via accrued income. When payment is received for fees, this is allocated to accrued income resulting in a net balance per client being recognised in either accrued or deferred income.
Members' participation rights are the rights of a member against the LLP that arise under the members' agreement (for example, in respect of amounts subscribed or otherwise contributed remuneration and profits).
Members' participation rights in the earnings or assets of the LLP are analysed between those that are, from the LLP's perspective, either a financial liability or equity, in accordance with section 22 of FRS 102. A member's participation rights including amounts subscribed or otherwise contributed by members, for example members' capital, are classed as liabilities unless the LLP has an unconditional right to refuse payment to members, in which case they are classified as equity.
All amounts due to members that are classified as liabilities are presented within 'Loans and other debts due to members' and, where such an amount relates to current year profits, they are recognised within ‘Members' remuneration charged as an expense’ in arriving at the relevant year’s result. Undivided amounts that are classified as equity are shown within ‘Members' other interests’. Amounts recoverable from members are presented as debtors and shown as amounts due from members within members’ interests.
Where there exists an asset and liability component in respect of an individual member’s participation rights, they are presented on a gross basis unless the LLP has both a legally enforceable right to set off the recognised amounts, and it intends either to settle on a net basis or to settle and realise these amounts simultaneously, in which case they are presented net.
Other amounts applied to members, for example remuneration paid under an employment contract and interest on capital balances, are treated in the same way as all other divisions of profits, as described above, according to whether the LLP has, in each case, an unconditional right to refuse payment. Amounts payable to members under employment contracts and unavoidable interest on members capital are charged to "members remuneration charged as an expense" in the relevant year.
Cash and cash equivalents are basic financial assets and include cash in hand, deposits held at call with banks, other short-term liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less, and bank overdrafts. Bank overdrafts are shown within borrowings in current liabilities.
The limited liability partnership has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instruments Issues’ of FRS 102 to all of its financial instruments.
Financial instruments are recognised in the limited liability partnership's statement of financial position when the limited liability partnership becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.
Financial assets and liabilities are offset and the net amounts presented in the financial statements when there is a legally enforceable right to set off the recognised amounts and there is an intention to settle on a net basis or to realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.
Basic financial assets, which include debtors and cash and bank balances, are initially measured at transaction price including transaction costs and are subsequently carried at amortised cost using the effective interest method unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the transaction is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial assets classified as receivable within one year are not amortised.
Financial assets, other than those held at fair value through profit and loss, are assessed for indicators of impairment at each reporting end date.
Financial assets are impaired where there is objective evidence that, as a result of one or more events that occurred after the initial recognition of the financial asset, the estimated future cash flows have been affected. If an asset is impaired, the impairment loss is the difference between the carrying amount and the present value of the estimated cash flows discounted at the asset’s original effective interest rate. The impairment loss is recognised in profit or loss.
If there is a decrease in the impairment loss arising from an event occurring after the impairment was recognised, the impairment is reversed. The reversal is such that the current carrying amount does not exceed what the carrying amount would have been, had the impairment not previously been recognised. The impairment reversal is recognised in profit or loss.
Financial assets are derecognised only when the contractual rights to the cash flows from the asset expire or are settled, or when the limited liability partnership transfers the financial asset and substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership to another entity, or if some significant risks and rewards of ownership are retained but control of the asset has transferred to another party that is able to sell the asset in its entirety to an unrelated third party.
Financial liabilities and equity instruments are classified according to the substance of the contractual arrangements entered into. An equity instrument is any contract that evidences a residual interest in the assets of the limited liability partnership after deducting all of its liabilities.
Basic financial liabilities, including creditors, bank loans, loans from fellow group companies and preference shares that are classified as debt, are initially recognised at transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial liabilities classified as payable within one year are not amortised.
Debt instruments are subsequently carried at amortised cost, using the effective interest rate method.
Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of business from suppliers. Amounts payable are classified as current liabilities if payment is due within one year or less. If not, they are presented as non-current liabilities. Trade creditors are recognised initially at transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.
Financial liabilities are derecognised when the limited liability partnership’s obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.
The costs of short-term employee benefits are recognised as a liability and an expense, unless those costs are required to be recognised as part of the cost of stock or fixed assets.
The cost of any unused holiday entitlement is recognised in the period in which the employee’s services are received.
Termination benefits are recognised immediately as an expense when the limited liability partnership is demonstrably committed to terminate the employment of an employee or to provide termination benefits.
Payments to defined contribution retirement benefit schemes are charged as an expense as they fall due.
In the application of the limited liability partnership’s accounting policies, the members are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amount of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.
The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised where the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods where the revision affects both current and future periods.
There are no critical judgements or key sources of estimation uncertainty, that the members have made in the process of applying the partnership's accounting policies or that have a significant effect on the amounts recognised in the financial statements.
An analysis of the limited liability partnership's turnover is as follows:
The average number of persons (excluding members) employed by the partnership during the year was:
Their aggregate remuneration comprised:
Amounts owed by group undertakings are interest free and repayable on demand.
The limited liability partnership operates a defined contribution pension scheme for all qualifying employees. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the limited liability partnership in an independently administered fund.
At the balance sheet date, contributions amounting to £3,629 (2025 £2,428) were payable to the fund and are included in creditors.
In the event of a winding up the amounts included in "Loans and other debts due to members" will rank equally with unsecured creditors.
On 23 September 2025, the members gifted 99.99% of their interest in the LLP to Equilibrium Investment Management Holdco Limited (the immediate parent company) and 0.01% to Equilibrium Financial Planning Holdco Limited (a fellow group company). This restructuring was undertaken as part of a wider transaction to facilitate the subsequent acquisition of the LLP. The transaction has been treated as a capital contribution with the partners gifting their interests to the corporate members.
Equilibrium Investment Management LLP was a party to an omnibus guarantee and set off agreement dated 9 July 2020 among Lloyds Bank plc, the LLP and related party undertaking Equilibrium Financial Planning LLP. This was satisfied in full in year. The total amounts secured by all entities in aggregate amounts to £Nil (2025: £373,333), the liability being a UK Government backed CBILS loan.
The LLP has taken advantage of the exemption available in Section 33.1A of FRS 102, whereby it has not disclosed transactions with the ultimate parent company or any wholly owned subsidiary undertakings of the group.