- The acquisition of AXA Elevate makes Standard Life the third largest adviser platform based on retail assets with a combined AUA as at 31st December 2015 of £37.06.
- The acquisition puts Standard Life ahead of Old Mutual Wealth and behind Cofunds and FundsNetwork.
- We expect that with this acquisition, Standard life will overtake Cofunds in retail assets with less than £500k separating the combined Standard Life/AXA platform from Cofunds’ retail business.
- The Standard Life wrap platform has enjoyed strong growth over the past year. AUA was up 21.29% year on year in December 2015 and the platform enjoyed net sales of £1bn each quarter.
- Both Standard Life and AXA Elevate were beneficiaries of the pension freedoms with strong internal expertise on pensions. Half (46%) of Standard Life’s assets and 41% of AXA Elevate’s assets were in a pension wrapper at the end of December.
- While AXA Elevate’s ownership has been uncertain for several months, financial advisers continue to rate the platform’s customer service and value for fees charged. Despite the uncertainty, the platform had a strong year in 2015 with AUA up 15% for the year.
- Both platforms operate using FNZ technology which should make the migration of assets easier, though this task should not be underestimated.
Platforum View:
Today’s announcement that Standard Life will acquire AXA Elevate will make Standard Life the 3rd largest adviser platform in the UK based on retail AUA. We view this acquisition as a positive outcome for AXA Elevate customers as it delivers certainty of ownership and commitment to the platform market. Standard Life’s wrap platform runs on FNZ, the same technology as AXA Elevate. This should make the transition of assets easier. AXA Elevate and Standard Life also share a strong pensions pedigree. The challenge to Standard Life will be to justify its higher charging structure to AXA Elevate customers and to migrate the large number of smaller accounts.
Heather Hopkins, Research Director, Platform
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