Our regular round-up of the latest insights on investment distribution

Price fixing

The big news this week has been the acquisition of Alliance Trust Savings by Interactive Investor. Adding the £15bn of new assets, this makes Interactive Investor a substantial platform – one of the largest D2C platforms, and with a foothold in the adviser market....

Earning ‘wealth tech’ wings

Platform M&A activity has been bubbly of late in the UK and Europe, prompting questions on platform valuations. In continental Europe, MiFID II’s complexities will boost outsourcing. Allfunds is expanding rapidly on the back of this and FNZ’s acquisition of...

Having a CIP

We’ve had a few non-UK clients this week ask us about the long-term impact of the RDR on UK advisers’ investment propositions. It’s still evolving, and we cover it in our latest UK Adviser Market report. One of the areas we have looked at is the interplay between...

Exporting investment expertise to Asia

As Brexit looms, what opportunities lie further afield for investment managers? We all know about wealth creation in Asia and the expansion of the middle classes. China is by far the largest new market for investment but it is largely closed to international asset...

The growing importance of research agencies

The post-RDR rise of centralised investment propositions in adviser firms has led to a fertile market for research agencies. Whilst a swathe of advisers chooses to outsource portfolio management, the majority are still selecting funds and running in-house advisory...