Your IndustryJul 27 2015

Platforms: Growing demand

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      Platforms: Growing demand

      As advisers become inundated with regulation and more qualifications to uphold, platforms are swiftly becoming the saving grace for those who have little time left to actually plan.

      Time is precious, particularly post-RDR, and efficiency has always been a major element of advice, so advisers need to know which platform will be able to meet their needs and those of their clients. All in all, the platform industry has taken great strides over the past decade, but it has not escaped criticism.

      It is no longer the case of just having the right funds available; platforms have had to reinvent themselves by offering additional services to help the adviser community further.

      Verona Smith, head of platform at 7IM, says that just a few years ago, differentiation in the platform space was focused on available fund range, the products, the website and the tools that were offered for an adviser.

      “Today, these have become standard features. Differentiation is now all about client interaction, together with the provision of add-on services to help advisers effectively cater for clients’ changing circumstances or life events.”

      The platform space has also had to evolve in line with adviser demand and technological changes, and it advances from year to year, creating a different landscape to what we were seeing just five years ago. For some, it may prove too difficult to keep up, and there have been industry rumours of consolidation for years.

      But Steve Owen, head of platform proposition at AXA Wealth says, “Despite the commentary over the past few years predicting platform consolidation, there is still no evidence this is happening. And there are few examples of platforms that have been successfully merged. In fact, with providers using a limited number of technology suppliers we could see more platforms in the market.”

      In the pipeline?

      Some providers, however, think consolidation could still happen. Phil Ralli, head of platform proposition at Aviva, says he expects some movement over the coming years as increasing regulation, squeezed margins and ongoing development costs bite. “We do not think that this consolidation will be as quick and sweeping as some suggest. This is because the migration of clients from one platform to another, while technologically easier, still represents a substantial task for the adviser firm, and demands scalable support from the receiving provider, as well as co-operation from the ceding platform.”

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