Our regular round-up of the latest insights on investment distribution
Future of the platform market and the workplace opportunity
Are there any investment platforms left that aren’t up for sale? One could be excused for thinking that a quizzical faint-heartedness has struck the industry’s leaders, heads of adviser platforms in particular. Investment platforms are the preferred route to market...
Heather Hopkins 30 October 2015
Ascentric’s Wrap Platform Bets on its Technology Investment Paying Off in 2016
Ascentric's parent company,Royal London, sold the client book of its D2C proposition Fundsdirect in 2015, signalling a clear intent to concentrate on providing services to the intermediary market. However, we have seen a shift away from advisers using Ascentric as...
Miranda Seath 26 October 2015
Will the robos drive up savings rates in the workplace?
In last week’s email, we hinted that robo-advisers could be coming to an office near you and asked if this posed another threat to the retail advice sector? We have long said that so-called “robo-advisers” (automated tools guiding investors to decisions) are a boon...
Miranda Seath 23 October 2015
The good, the bad and the ugly DIY investor experience
This week Jeremy Fawcett (@jfawcett), Head of Direct, reveals the results of our recent test driving exercise for direct platforms… Today we publish our latest D2C update on the investor experience and we’re seeing improvements. It’s fashionable to bash financial...
Jeremy Fawcett 16 October 2015
More on fees and charges
This week Heather Hopkins (@heatherahopkins) and Sophie Huang consider fees, transparency and the case for financial planning. How do IFAs select DFMs? A round of golf, a dinner a few times a year – these are some of the ways that the old school DFMs describe their...
Sophie Huang and Heather Hopkins 09 October 2015
Alliance Trust Savings Adviser Platform Review
Click here to read our view of Alliance Trust Savings' adviser platform proposition. The flat fee model is gaining traction and the firm is increasingly focussed on adviser platform assets. We expect to see some acquisitions in the near future for this ambitious...
Heather Hopkins 09 October 2015