Today sees Extel launch its 2026 UK SMID data. Investec have consolidated their position, helped by the tailwind of consolidation and rival brokers refocusing their efforts. Investec's Julian Yates is the UK SMID top analyst for the third consecutive year.

Extel’s rankings are based on independent, anonymized feedback from the buy-side, sell-side and corporate issuers. The 2026 UK Small & Mid-Cap results reflect the opinions of 248 portfolio managers and analysts across 186 participating institutions. Their feedback plays a crucial role in the capital market ecosystem, with the insight derived key to the annual performance reviews and strategy of the sell side, corporates and buy side across the City.

The UK SMID Broker data set is one of Extel’s annual program of independent market surveys, spanning multiple regions across North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. These surveys cover both sides of the investment ecosystem, including sell-side research providers, trading and corporate access functions, and corporate executive teams and investor relations performance.

David Enticknap, CEO of Extel, said “This year’s results underline both the resilience and the ongoing evolution of the UK small and mid-cap broker landscape. The rankings reflect a market consolidating around a group of high-performing firms, with Investec maintaining a clear leadership position and Peel Hunt continuing to build momentum.

“The broader backdrop for UK equity research remains shaped by structural change. The impact of MiFID II on research economics is still being negatively felt across the market. We believe, however, based on our discussions with market participants, recent Government initiatives to improve access to equity research, particularly for smaller companies, are beginning to play an important role in supporting coverage and engagement. “In that context, benchmarking excellence through independent, anonymized feedback has never been more important. These rankings are not a popularity contest. They are rooted in detailed qualitative assessments from active market participants, with the published league tables simply reflecting that underlying insight.”

The results can be found here and an article supporting the release of the 2026 data can be found here.