This week Heather Hopkins (@heatherahopkins), Head of Platforum, shares ten of our favourite stats from recent Platforum (@theplatforum) research.
To help us ease into the weekend and because we all have enough to read (my pile includes this week’s 122 page FCA report on decumulation!), we have opted for a different format this week. Ten of our favourite stats from recent and forthcoming Platforum reports. Enjoy!
10. 2017 could be the break out year for direct investing. Direct platform AUA is up 25% year on year (as at 31st March 2017), the same rate of growth for adviser platforms. Direct platforms have historically grown more slowly than adviser platforms but that is changing. (Source Platforum Direct Platform Market Update, July 2017 and Platforum Adviser Platform Guide, May 2017)
9. Hargreaves Lansdown’s share of direct platform assets increased to 38%, but AJ Bell Youinvest and Interactive Investor grew more quickly – both with over 40% growth year on year. (Source: Platforum Direct Platform Market Update, July 2017)
8. The number of advising staff working in financial adviser firms (excluding banks and wealth managers) has increased for the third consecutive year to reach 24,761. (Source: Platforum Adviser Market Size and Structure, July 2017)
7. Directly authorised firm numbers have increased 4.4% since 2014 – pointing to a possible shift away from the appointed representative model’s dominance in the adviser market. (Source: Platforum Adviser Market Size and Structure, July 2017)
6. We may be seeing a return to outsourcing of investment selection by financial advisers. DFM model portfolios have seen strong growth year on year and advisers told us they are outsourcing more to DFMs (bespoke + MPS) than a year ago. Outsourcing had plateaued but is once again on the rise. (Source: Platforum Model Portfolios on Platform, forthcoming July 2017)
5. Only 3% of savers who don’t invest say it’s because it’s too expensive. This compares to 23% who don’t have enough disposable income to invest and 21% who think it’s too risky. Marketing messages need to do better at overcoming these objections. (Source: Platforum Consumer Insights Update, forthcoming July 2017)
4. Among savers that plan to place an investment in the next 12 months, 69% plan to do so through their bank. (Source: Platforum Consumer Insights Update, forthcoming July 2017)
3. 46% of advisers don’t consider ‘investment performance’ among the top 3 most important factors when selecting a DFM. Fees top the list of factors – 76% of advisers put it among the top 3. (Source: Platforum Model Portfolios on Platform, forthcoming July 2017)
2. Nearly four fifths (79%) of advisers pick funds. This includes single strategy funds based on in-house research, bought-in research and multi-manager funds. Among these fund pickers, on average, they are fund picking for nearly half of the assets in their portfolios. (Source: Platforum Model Portfolios on Platform, forthcoming July 2017)
1. Take advantage of our super early bird offer (ending on the 24th July) for the Platforum 2017 conference, taking place 10th October at ETC St. Paul’s. You can register here or email Bruce Allmand-Smith for more details. Go on, save your firm a few quid to spend a day debating some of the themes in this email.
Let us know which are your favourites among our top 10. Have a lovely weekend. And I hope to see you on 10th October at our conference (if not before).