InvestmentsMar 20 2014

DeAWM targets UK retail market with platform push

twitter-iconfacebook-iconlinkedin-iconmail-iconprint-icon
Search supported by

Deutsche Asset and Wealth Management (DeAWM) has embarked on a significant push into the UK retail market.

The firm had previously targeted mainly institutions and discretionary managers but is now targeting the retail space by looking to list its range on major platforms.

Jonathan Kent, head of financial intermediaries distribution, UK and Ireland, said the vanguard of the firm’s expansion was to get its exchange-traded fund (ETF) range and range of quant-driven Croci funds on eight platforms, including Nucleus and Standard Life.

The ETF range, db x-trackers, includes a FTSE 100 tracker with a total cost of 0.09 per cent.

The Croci range, which stands for “cash return on capital invested”, is run using a quantitative systematic screening process developed by Deutsche.

Mr Kent said the firm had plans to bring further products into the UK but would look to concentrate on areas of unmet demand rather than highly competitive areas.

He said: “We have got a reputation for products with high intellectual property, we are seen as innovators. We are not going to be directly competing in areas such as UK equity income.”

Mr Kent said the firm was now in “expansion mode” following a corporate restructure in 2012 and 2013 that saw Deutsche’s various asset management branches brought under the DeAWM banner.

The firm has been making hires recently on both its distribution team and in investment management, and Mr Kent said the firm would look to bring in more people as it expands its retail product range.