For the first time in nearly eight years, three of the Big Four giants, Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, are locked in a dead heat for FTSE 100 client dominance.

A boardroom reshuffle has loosened PwC’s iron grip on clients from London’s blue-chip index, forcing a historic three-way tie at the top of the FTSE 100 audit rankings.

According to the latest guide by Adviser Rankings, boosted by major wins like easyJet and Intertek for Deloitte and AstraZeneca for KPMG, the audit giants have reset the board to look exactly as it did in 2018. All three now hold exactly 25 clients each from the FTSE 100.

PwC remains the only auditor with a triple-digit client count in the FTSE 350 and over 200 stock market clients, but KPMG is the new ‘market cap star’, controlling the highest client value across the FTSE 350, FTSE 100, and the total stock market.

While the Big Four fight for the FTSE 100, PKF Littlejohn has quietly been running away with the rest of the stock market, capturing more net new clients this quarter than the rest of the profession combined.

City-based accountancy firm PKF Littlejohn has 21 clients from the main market on its books. It is followed by BDO in second place, two clients behind PKF, and EY in third place.

Slaughter & May pulls ahead in legal race

In the legal market, magic circle firm Slaughter & May has widened its lead at the top of the FTSE 250 and FTSE 350 legal rankings, leaving rivals trailing by double digits after picking up premium mandates such as Kingfisher, AJ Bell, and Victrex.

While there has been a big shift in the ultra-competitive FTSE 100 legal market, Linklaters has broken ties with Freshfields, claiming sole ownership of the second spot behind Slaughter & May.

Dickson Minto has captured sole second place in the FTSE 250, pushing Herbert Smith Freehills to third, and maintained its number one position in the small-cap index. Howard Kennedy has climbed to joint first place in the main market client rankings.

Liverpool-headquartered Hill Dickinson’s long-term growth strategy looks to be working. Five years ago, the firm was in joint fifteenth place for total listed clients. Today it stands in fourth place, having secured dominance in the AIM and Aquis markets.