Seven Investment Management (7IM) is reviewing its options after the FCA announced a ban on platform providers giving discounts on their own funds.
Justin Urquhart Stewart, marketing director at 7IM, said he would be meeting with his colleagues on the platform during the next few days to discuss the implications of the FCA’s rules on payments to platforms from fund managers.
7IM runs a range of multi-manager portfolios as well as operating an investment platform for advisers.
“The issue for us is to do what is best outcome for our clients,” Mr Urquhart Stewart said. “This will be our guiding light as we decide what to do.”
Earlier today Architas managing director Hans Georgeson said the FCA’s ruling would effectively end his company’s policy of offering Axa Elevate clients a discount for purchasing funds run by its sister company Architas through the platform.
The FCA said it expected that “product costs should not be used to cross-subsidise the platform charge”.
“The platform charge should essentially be similar across all products on a platform when there is not an appropriate reason for it to vary,” the regulator said.
“So if a platform service provider is also a fund manager, we would not expect the platform to be labelled as ‘free’ if the consumer invests in funds operated by that manager.”
