Our regular round-up of the latest insights on investment distribution
Keeping up with the customer
Natwest has just announced 128 branch closures because of the ‘dramatic shift’ from face-to-face to online and mobile transactions. Nothing new there... 32 branches went last year because of ‘increased use of digital banking’ and 300 back in 1996, as it rolled out...
Jeremy Fawcett 31 March 2017
Which advisers go for investment trusts
The idea of patient long term capital is attractive – especially in the context of investment trusts. Higher long term returns could come from the higher risks involved in holding investment trusts. What’s more I think that it could have legs in the adviser...
Danby Bloch 24 March 2017
Assessing Financial Stability of Platforms
‘Financial stability’ is consistently among the top ‘musts’ of the perfect platform. Advisers rated it ahead of ‘low charges’ as the top ‘must’ in Q4 for the first time. But is all this just confirmation bias? In today’s email I will dig in to the detail of these...
Heather Hopkins 17 March 2017
The big interview: Aegon chief on the shift away from being a life company
Read the full interview in Money Marketing
Heather Hopkins 14 March 2017
SLAberdeen – Bigger than the Budget
Despite the Budget and subsequent rumblings, the proposed Standard Life and Aberdeen marriage is the defining news of the week. ‘SLAberdeen,’ as the potential tie-up between Standard Life and Aberdeen is being called for now, would be the third largest UK asset...
Heather Hopkins 10 March 2017
Do advisers have investment trust issues?
Why don’t advisers recommend investment trusts to their clients? The gross sales data on platform sales suggest that flows into these closed ended vehicles have failed to motor since the RDR. For the forthcoming Platforum report UK Fund Distribution: Investment...
Miranda Seath 03 March 2017