Our regular round-up of the latest insights on investment distribution
Where have all the advisers gone?
Recruiting advisers and other experienced staff ranks as one of the biggest challenges that advice businesses now face, according to many of the owners and managers of advice firms we have spoken to in our research at Platforum. In fact, we discovered that half of...
Mariam Pourshoushtari 12 July 2019
What is the D2C future of investment trusts?
If investment trusts wanted to shout about the merits of the closed-ended structure, they’ve had two excellent opportunities of late, with the Woodford gating and a similar episode for several property funds following the 2016 EU referendum result. However, they’re...
Jeremy Fawcett 05 July 2019
Can the FCA tame the DIY decumulation market?
Nearly a third of pension drawdown sales are non-advised. This figure rises sharply if you also include first-time access as a full cash withdrawal, annuity purchase and simplified withdrawal under the UFPLS rules. Perhaps it is time for this significant swathe of...
Andrew Ashwood 28 June 2019
European platforms: in a different class
We’re seeing a slow rise in the use of clean share classes across Europe, challenging the existing business models of many platforms. And, unfortunately, we can’t look to the UK for a hint of where we’ll end up. While clean share classes are more or less ubiquitous...
Richard Bradley 21 June 2019
Select Lists and Select Committees
With the Woodford furore well into its second week, the focus has moved onto platforms. Hargreaves Lansdown has a list of questions from the Treasury Select Committee to answer by next Tuesday. How often are select list inclusions considered and what impact do they...
Jeremy Fawcett 14 June 2019
Woodford’s liquidity crisis
Many investment professionals were promoting the Woodford Equity Income fund to investors, so what are the practical implications of the gating debacle for the retail channel? Platforum data on direct platform select lists shows that at the start of 2018, Woodford...
Jeremy Fawcett and Andrew Ashwood 07 June 2019