Our regular round-up of the latest insights on investment distribution
Financial advice firms in 2020 – the lowdown
When it rains, it pours. News aplenty on Thursday morning with announcements that Raymond James is to acquire Charles Stanley and Lloyds Banking Group is swooping for Embark. On the same day, the FCA published its annual figures on the state of the advice market....
Platform MPS use on the rise
DFM use is on the rise among financial advisers and platform-based managed portfolio services (MPS) have been the main beneficiaries. Recent Platforum research shows that advisers are using more DFMs now than they were two years ago, with advice firms that use...
MPS Pricing – a race to the bottom?
Managed portfolio services (MPS) on adviser platforms are one of the fastest growing segments of the market. Some of the strongest growth for wealth managers has come from MPS distributed through financial advisers. In 2020, platform MPS grew much faster than...
Converting D2C gamblers into investors
The UK D2C investing market has seen a rapid influx of new investors since the start of the pandemic. Many of this group have been short-term speculators, trying to earn a quick return in volatile markets. First-time investors often associate investing with...
New competition in the digital investing market
There has been a spike in trading activity by self-directed investors over the last 15 months and we’ve seen the arrival of a new cohort of first-time investors who are attracted to some of the higher risk options. US tech stocks, cryptocurrency and CFDs have all...
Wealth management distribution – at what cost?
Price pressure in the UK wealth management market continues to intensify. LGIM’s launch of a model portfolio service (MPS) at 5bps last week sets a new benchmark for low-cost portfolio management. MPS providers who charge 30bps or more are starting to look very...