Octopus Investments has appointed Axa Elevate’s business development director Shaun Sandiford to lead a platform distribution push.
He will now be responsible for building relationships with adviser platforms and the firm said he has already signed his first deal: an agreement with Novia to offer Octopus’s Inheritance Tax Service as part of its wrap.
Paul Boston, Novia’s director of sales, said: “One area that up until now has not been possible via platforms is Business Property Relief, and its use in inheritance tax planning. We are delighted to be able to offer this service with the addition of Octopus investment services.”
The move marks the first time Octopus’ inheritance tax planning products have been available to UK retail investors via a platform.
Speaking to FTAdviser, Neil Buckland, sales director at Octopus, said that the move is in reaction to adviser demand for IHT solutions.
“It has been time and labour intensive securing this first platform deal, but now with Shaun on board we’ll be hoping to get on a few more. His brief is to work out the appetite and recruit a team to help widen the distribution of our products to advisers.”
Mr Buckland added that following the IHT product, he was keen to get Octopus’ venture capital trusts onto platforms this year, so they are ready for the increased interest in the lead up to the end of the tax year.
