Updated project metadata. Heat shock protein-90 chaperone machinery is involved in the stability and activity of its client proteins. The chaperone function of Hsp90 is regulated by co-chaperones and post-translational modifications. Although structural evidence exists for Hsp90 interaction with clients, our understanding of the impact of Hsp90 chaperone function towards client activity in cells remains elusive. Here, we dissected the impact of newly identified co-chaperones in higher eukaryotes, FNIP1/2 (FNIPs) and Tsc1, towards Hsp90 client activity. Our data show that Tsc1 and FNIP2 form mutually exclusive complexes with FNIP1 and that unlike Tsc1, FNIP1/2 interact with the catalytic residue of Hsp90. Functionally, these co-chaperone complexes increase the affinity of the steroid hormone receptors glucocorticoid receptor and estrogen receptor to their ligands in vivo. Here, we provide a model for the responsiveness of the steroid hormone receptor activation upon ligand binding as a consequence of their association with specific Hsp90:co-chaperone subpopulations.