Key Takeaways
- PwC audits 5,207 US registered fund series, 42.3% of those whose trust names a single audit firm on Form N-CEN.
- 73% of those series are audited by PwC, Cohen & Co or EY.
- By the assets of the funds audited, PwC leads with $27.23 trillion.
- Counted from every fund's latest annual Form N-CEN, filed October 6, 2025 to September 29, 2026.
PwC audits 42.3% of US registered fund series (mutual funds, ETFs, closed-end and interval funds), 5,207 of them, among those whose trust names a single audit firm. With Cohen & Co and EY, three firms audit 73% of those series. By the assets of the funds audited, PwC leads with $27.23 trillion.
Every fund registered with the SEC files Form N-CEN once a year, and the registrant, usually a trust holding many funds, names its independent public accountants. Of 13,195 fund series at their latest report, filed October 6, 2025 to September 29, 2026, 12,316 belong to a trust that names one firm, so each can be attributed to its auditor.
The 15 audit firms US funds name most
Counted by the fund series whose trust names only that firm on its latest N-CEN. The share is of the 12,316 series attributed this way.
| Rank | Auditor | Fund series | Share of series attributed to one firm | Average net assets of those series |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PwC | 5,207 | 42.3% | $27.23 trillion |
| 2 | Cohen & Co | 1,967 | 16.0% | $1.16 trillion |
| 3 | EY | 1,854 | 15.1% | $3.82 trillion |
| 4 | Deloitte | 1,793 | 14.6% | $6.59 trillion |
| 5 | KPMG | 784 | 6.4% | $937 billion |
| 6 | Tait, Weller & Baker | 559 | 4.5% | $160 billion |
| 7 | Sanville & Company | 76 | 0.6% | $39.3 billion |
| 8 | Grant Thornton | 33 | 0.3% | $28.5 billion |
| 9 | RSM | 20 | 0.2% | $2.7 billion |
| 10 | Bush & Associates CPA | 4 | 0.0% | $139 million |
| 11 | Keiter | 4 | 0.0% | $32 million |
| 12 | Tang Qian & Associates PLLC | 3 | 0.0% | $27 million |
| 13 | Dejoy Knauf & Blood | 2 | 0.0% | $16 million |
| 14 | Plante & Moran PLLC | 1 | 0.0% | $1.8 billion |
| 15 | BDO | 1 | 0.0% | $823 million |
Download this table (CSV), free, with every filed name grouped under each firm. The full dataset, every fund series with its family, assets and auditor, is one email away.
How concentrated fund audit is
- Three firms audit 73% of those series; 23 audit firms appear among them.
- The series PwC audits had $27.23 trillion in average net assets between them.
- 879 series, 7% of the total, with $4.10 trillion in average net assets, belong to trusts that name more than one firm and are left out of the table.
What this means for technology buyers
An audit tests the books a fund keeps and the controls around them. These guides cover systems that feed it:
- Order management systems for asset managers: the trade record the audit starts from.
- Multi-asset portfolio analytics: positions and valuations across a fund range.
- Securities lending platforms for asset managers: lending income and collateral the audit tests.
Mapping the business? The Asset Management Capability Model sets out the controls and reporting a manager owns.
More from Finantrix Atlas
- Largest mutual fund and ETF administrators
- Largest mutual fund and ETF custodians
- Largest private fund managers
How this was counted
The SEC publishes Form N-CEN filings quarterly; the last 4 quarters hold every registered fund's latest annual report. Each fund series is taken from its most recent filing, and the independent public accountants its trust names in Item B.17 are grouped by firm. A series is attributed only when its trust names one firm. Assets are N-CEN's average net assets over each fund's fiscal year.
Limits
- Average, not current, assets. N-CEN reports a fund's average net assets over its fiscal year.
- Counts of series, not fees. A small fund counts the same as a large one.
- Grouping is a judgment. The filed names under each firm are in the free table.
- Trusts, not funds, name auditors. N-CEN asks for auditors at the registrant level, so a trust that uses two firms cannot say which audits which fund. Those series are counted aside, not guessed at.
- Registered funds only. Private fund auditors are not counted here.
Cite this
Free to quote, cite and republish, including the chart, with credit to Finantrix Atlas and a link to this page.
PwC audits 42.3% of the US registered fund series that can be attributed to a single audit firm, according to a Finantrix Atlas analysis of SEC Form N-CEN filings.
Suggested citation: Finantrix Atlas, "Who Audits Mutual Funds and ETFs?", from SEC Form N-CEN filings, October 6, 2025 to September 29, 2026. https://www.finantrix.com/articles/fund-auditors
Embed the chart:
<a href="https://www.finantrix.com/articles/fund-auditors"><img src="https://www.finantrix.com/atlas/fund-auditors.png" alt="Fund auditors by number of fund series, from Finantrix Atlas"></a>
<p>Chart: <a href="https://www.finantrix.com/articles/fund-auditors">Finantrix Atlas</a>, from SEC Form N-CEN data.</p>
Frequently asked questions
Q: Which firm audits the most mutual funds? A: PwC, named by 5,207 US registered fund series on Form N-CEN.
Q: How many audit firms audit US registered funds? A: Among series whose trust names a single firm on SEC Form N-CEN, 23 audit firms appear, and three of them audit 73% of those series.
Download the data
The 15 rows on this page (CSV), free. The full dataset has all 13,195 rows, as of September 29, 2026; we email you a link.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which firm audits the most mutual funds?
PwC, named by 5,207 US registered fund series on Form N-CEN.
How many audit firms audit US registered funds?
Among series whose trust names a single firm on SEC Form N-CEN, 23 audit firms appear, and three of them audit 73% of those series.