Many predict that platforms will merge over the next few years as there simply will not be enough business to sustain them all. But in the meantime, they are dealing with issues derived from the regulators.

There has been much debate in recent months over whether there should be rebates and whether they should be banned – first the regulator said it wanted to ban rebates to platforms from fund managers and then rebates to consumers. Now it wants to ban all cash rebates, so unit rebates were brought in.

Recently HMRC said it wanted to tax all types of rebate, which has thrown the sector into disarray and the potential arrival of multiple share classes.

This creates issues for re-registration - if different share classes are appearing on different platforms, how do advisers make the most efficient move from one platform to another?

But as they have become popular, so they have proliferated and many life offices are keen to develop their own as an alternative means of securing distribution.

The platform sector has much to deal with over the next few months. The question is: is the sector up to the challenge?

Melanie Tringham is features editor of Financial Adviser