Your IndustryDec 10 2014

Platforms must work harder for advisers – Axa

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Platforms must work harder to improve technology to help advisers deliver the right service to their clients, Steve Owen, head of Axa Wealth Proposition, has said.

“Platforms must push themselves to ensure they provide maximum value from the information they hold on their systems. For instance, by allowing transactions for multiple product wrappers in just one move, an adviser can recommend and apply for a new Isa, pension and investment account simultaneously, without the need to re-key information,” he said.

This could substantially reduce the amount of time an adviser spent on the platform, he added.

Similarly, such technology could allow advisers to pre-populate information for pension illustrations, top-ups and applications for additional product wrappers for existing clients.

Platform providers must also work harder to deliver improved efficiency by building better connections with other technologies used by advisers in their day-to-day business.

This comes as independent platform consultancy the Lang Cat claimed it could cost millions for some platforms to create the right technology to help create clearer, more transparent remuneration.

Marc Polson, founder of the Lang Cat, said: “For many, if not most, the cost would range from tens of thousands to maybe a couple of million of pounds. Building in a fee-run contingent on the income distributions from different funds is mind-bogglingly complicated. It has to work for everyone, all the time, and that’s really hard to do.”

Adviser View

Chris Ioannou, senior independent financial adviser for Bolton-based Prestige IFA, said: “I think this is a major issue. Most platforms would say that change was ‘too costly to implement’, or ‘there was not enough demand for such a change from advisers’.

“If that were true, then it means advisers have accepted that unless clients are willing and able to pay the platform/adviser fees directly, then they are left with a choice between selling units to pay the fees or assigning a percentage of the investment into the platform’s cash account, so that ongoing charges can be paid from this.”