He added: “Things such as providing the right information at the right time are really fundamental to our approach. It is in the added-value area where we think we are differentiated. But it has to be practical because adviser clients do not like it just to be a talking shop. They want follow-up after an event; for instance, to help them finish a business plan.”
RLAM fine-tunes its communication
Royal London Asset Management has now recorded two consecutive appearances in the investment providers’ five-star service awards category, meaning it has been in the top service category for three of the past four years.
A key element of RLAM’s performance lies in how the company services the communication needs of advisers, according to Tracy Watt, RLAM’s head of marketing.
Ms Watt said: “Over the past 18 months we have been engaged in building communications with them the way they want to receive it. Research shows that there is a problem with too much as well as too little. So we have been researching how our adviser clients like us to communicate with them. Feedback from advisers shows that they are getting the right amount.
“Accompanying this are our webinars, which can be short videos or infographics to help understanding of our products, which of course helps them look good in front of their clients. We also offer a bespoke training service.”
Maintaining open lines of communication means RLAM gets a lot of feedback on adviser needs with regard to investment products they want, Ms Watt said. This had identified that they wanted an absolute return fund. So in November they launched the Royal London Absolute Return Government Bond fund, managed by Darren Bustin, head of derivatives and Paul Rayner, head of government bonds.
Ms Watt added that this was also an element behind the hiring of Trevor Greetham from Fidelity to head RLAM’s multi-asset developments.
It’s a wrap for Transact
Wrap platform Transact maintains a position in the five-star service awards category for the sixth year in a row. The company has funds under direction of more than £19bn.
Jonathan Gunby, Transact’s chief development officer, said the past year has seen “significant enhancements in platform functionality and announced numerous price cuts while maintaining our award-winning adviser service. We have also added huge numbers of new investment funds and solutions so that Transact continues to offer the widest investment choice to advisers in the UK platform market.”
Tackling the challenge of pensions freedoms, Mr Gunby says the company “developed flexible access drawdown and uncrystallised funds pension lump sum solutions to give advisers tools needed to advise clients. We also re-introduced a term deposit solution following regulatory changes. These are supported by Transact Online, which also now supports direct venture capital trust investment and adviser access to its ‘customer view’ capability.”
