Set Up an Investment Brokerage

At a high level: define the regulated activities you will carry out, incorporate a UK company, secure a regulatory route (direct FCA authorisation or appointed representative status), put compliance, onboarding and technology in place, build a credible website, and launch a customer acquisition plan.

If you arrange, deal in or advise on investments in the UK you need permission, either your own FCA authorisation or cover under an authorised principal as an appointed representative.

Direct authorisation means you hold your own permissions and take full regulatory responsibility. Appointed representative status means an authorised principal takes responsibility for your regulated activities, usually for a fee and a share of revenue, with less setup time but less independence.

Applications commonly run for several months from submission, and the clock effectively starts when your application is complete. Preparing the business plan, financials and compliance framework properly is what determines the real timeline.

Capital requirements depend on the permissions you hold and the activities you carry out. You also need working capital for staff, technology and acquisition before commissions arrive.

You need named individuals accountable for compliance functions. Smaller firms often combine an internal owner with an external compliance consultancy in the first year.

A CRM, client onboarding with identity and AML checks, document storage, secure communication and call recording where relevant, reporting, and analytics tied to your website enquiry flow.

Many firms operate with distributed teams, but you still need a registered UK presence, proper supervision arrangements and record keeping that satisfies your obligations.

Start with the segment where you have genuine credibility and existing relationships. Broad targeting at launch usually produces expensive, poor-quality enquiries.

Yes. Website copy, adverts and landing pages that invite or induce investment activity are financial promotions and must be approved by an authorised person and be fair, clear and not misleading.

Commissions, arrangement or dealing fees, ongoing service charges, or a share of provider fees. The model must be transparent to clients and consistent with your permissions.

Only with care. Data must be lawfully collected with valid consent for your type of contact, and the source and permissions must be evidenced. Poor-quality investor data is a regulatory and reputational risk.

Very. Broad financial terms are dominated by large brands, so most new brokerages win by owning narrower, specific intent — a niche, a product type or a client situation — with genuinely better content.

Professional indemnity cover is standard and may be a condition of your permissions. Directors' and officers' cover and cyber cover are also common.

One well-executed proposition is usually faster to authorise, easier to market and easier to service. Extend once the operating model works.

We explain what is involved, and we connect you with compliance, legal, formation, banking, insurance, technology and marketing partners. We do not provide regulatory permissions, legal advice or compliance sign-off.

Realistically three to twelve months, driven mainly by the regulatory route: appointed representative arrangements can be live in weeks to a few months, while direct authorisation typically takes longer. The variables that move the timeline most are approvals, how quickly your website and tracking are built, and how long it takes to agree terms with suppliers or partners.

Setup is usually five figures before marketing, covering incorporation, compliance support, technology, insurance and the website, plus ongoing principal fees or authorisation costs. Costs depend on whether you build in-house or use external providers, how much you spend on customer acquisition in the first quarter, and the level of technology you need on day one.

Yes. A investment brokerage needs a credible, fast website with clear service pages, proof of legitimacy, tracked enquiry forms and analytics. Without one you cannot run search, paid or referral acquisition properly, and buyers will struggle to verify you.

Often, yes. Existing businesses frequently add a investment brokerage as a new department because they already have data, staff, customers or distribution. The usual work is a separate brand or landing page, separate tracking, defined processes and any approvals the new activity requires.

SET UP A is a business launch and growth platform. We help you understand what is involved, and we introduce you to the partners who deliver what you need — company formation, banking, accounting, insurance, compliance and legal, technology, industry specialists, and website and marketing support. We do not deliver those services ourselves, and we are not your regulator, lawyer or accountant.

Yes, through partners. We can introduce you to website development partners who handle conversion-focused page structure, enquiry forms, tracking and analytics. SET UP A does not build the site itself.

Yes, through partners. SEO specialists in our partner network cover technical foundations, page architecture, commercial page content and internal linking so the business can be found in Google, Bing and AI search results.

Yes. We can introduce lead generation and performance marketing specialists relevant to your model. Where an introduction generates a referral fee for SET UP A, that is disclosed.

You are not charged for being introduced to a partner. Some partner introductions may generate a commercial referral fee for SET UP A, paid by the partner. This is set out on our partner disclosure page.

Customer acquisition. Most launches over-invest in brand and under-invest in a repeatable way to generate enquiries, and they launch without tracking, so they cannot tell which channel produced revenue.

Yes. SET UP A is built for the UK market, so the guidance, terminology and partner categories reflect UK business practice.

Tell us what you want to set up, whether you already operate a business and when you want to launch. We will come back with the services, resources and partners relevant to launching an investment brokerage.