A new initiative of using face-to-face ‘support consultants’ to speak directly with advisers lies behind recent growth in the Zurich UK Life platform, the firm’s head of retail platform strategy Alistair Wilson told FTAdviser.
The firm reported a new business margin of 14.9 per cent, backed by increasing volumes of retail platform business since it launched in early 2013. Mr Wilson said the numbers of advisers and assets on the platform since then had exceeded expectations.
“I think that’s been on the basis that the level of support we’re giving advisers on the ground, we have a strong team of platform adoption consultants, that’s proven to be a very good tactic in the marketplace.
“We also want to build deeper relationships, it’s very much about partnership with the right kind of IFAs.”
In its first 12 months the platform had signed agreements with Openwork, Lighthouse, SimplyBiz, Bellpenny and the Best Practice network, with more than £7bn worth of assets under administration from over 400 adviser firms.
Zurich reduced platform fees last month following the Budget reforms to Isas and pensions, waiving the annual fee that applies to retirement accounts for the remainder of 2014 in an attempt to assist advisers as they look to consolidate pension assets onto platforms ahead of April 2015.
Mr Wilson said: “With the changes coming through on Isa regulations and looking ahead to the retirement space, we thought July was a good time to revisit the costings, with very much an eye on next year.
“There’s lot of focus for platforms on this retirement space, changing the way it looks, because the rule book really has been ripped up.”
David Thompson, managing director of Elevate, recently said that Axa Wealth expects the pension changes coming into force next April 2015 will “accelerate flows onto platforms”.
Mr Thompson said this is because platforms allow financial planning advisers and their clients to spread wealth easily over multiple tax wrappers, offer flexible ways of retrieving income and a place to store and invest the money saved.
