Let me take you back in time to the start of 2015. Most of us had never even heard of a Coronavirus. Woodford had only recently broken free from Invesco and started off on his own. And nine platforms were offering investors fund recommendations via their select lists.
Using Platforum select list data from the start of 2015, we have taken a look at how the funds which were included on lists back then have performed over the ensuing five years. We’re therefore using the benefit of hindsight to compare the foresight of platforms – just how much faith should investors have in platforms to pick the winners?
We have looked at what proportion of funds have beaten their category average over the period. For avoidance of doubt, a fund’s category average is that of its Morningstar Category over the period from 1st January 2015 to the 31st December 2019.
The table below shows each direct platform and the proportion of funds on their select lists that beat outright their category averages over the five-year period.
| Platform | Funds which beat category average |
| Willis Owen | 70% |
| Fidelity Personal Investing | 63% |
| Chelsea Financial Services | 61% |
| The Share Centre | 61% |
| Close Brothers AM | 58% |
| Charles Stanley Direct | 55% |
| Hargreaves Lansdown | 55% |
| TD Direct Investing | 55% |
| Bestinvest | 54% |
Source: Platforum
We have only looked at open-ended funds in this analysis.
Where a fund no longer exists by either being wound up or merged into another fund, we have not included it within our analysis. 22 funds overall which were included on direct platform select lists back in 2015 didn’t manage to see out the decade.
This analysis provides some perspective as to how platform fund picks actually performed in the years after being selected. In it we look at the nine platform select lists from back then. There are currently 16 platforms offering investors their own lists. So to those 16, I guess we’ll be seeing you all in 2025!
We look at the current state of D2C guidance and how it has evolved significantly in the last five years, and continues to evolve, in our soon to be published report UK D2C: Investment Distribution. The report looks in depth at direct platform select lists as well as ready-made portfolios, own-brand funds, guidance solutions, banks, robos and more. Get in touch for more details.