The following guest article was written by Clive Riddle, a member of the Client Services team, at Castine based in London. Castine is a financial technology firm that provides cloud-based software solutions addressing commission management, client profitability, research payment and compliance for the financial services industry. This article addresses one of the key messages which came from Substantive Research’s 2025 Unbundling Uncovered conference held in London on November 5th 2025.
With the EU still disadvantaged vis a vis CSAs, and despite mixed signals internally within firms (as well as the prospect of operational headaches and procrastination) the clear message coming out of the Unbundling Uncovered conference in London last week is that “CSAs are ultimately inevitable in the UK and Europe.”
The rationale is simple: CSAs deliver benefits on all fronts: for asset owners getting better performance, asset managers showing improved P&L numbers, and for research firms growing their client base.
Whilst there’s still a lot of work to be done to adopt CSAs or payment optionality (given it’s viewed as a harder change than the post MiFID II move from CSAs to P&L in 2017/2018) the likelihood that CSA-style unbundling will reappear in the UK is high. Sceptics are being pushed aside, and early adopters stand to be in the pole position with those ‘waiting to see’ potentially being left behind.
There is, however, a caveat: unlike MiFID II, there is no timeline to consider. In project management it is often said “deadlines are deadly,” alluding to the fact that pushing something through by a certain date often leads to short cuts and ultimately a job not so well done. However, in the case of payment optionality or the re-unbundling, this lack of deadline could threaten progress and growth. Ultimately, with no end date to adhere to, procrastination occurs and timelines become elastic.
Though the end result might be clear, the desire to move quickly in this new world of unbundling may be tempered by revisiting client agreements, potential changes to processes such as the re-introduction of research evaluation models, and the need for global alignment. These are important steps, but by no means should prevent the adoption of such a powerful market benefit.
There is a downside to this leisurely approach in that there could be a last-minute scramble to get on board, and some firms may find themselves left behind.
So, the message seems clear, don’t hold back and be in the right place at the right time by initiating conversations now and avoid the risk of being left behind.
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