Analyse this
For obvious reasons the team at Asset Allocator spends a lot of time looking at model portfolio literature and trying to keep on top of which companies do and don't run models.
But it's a sign of how much the MPS market has grown that Terry Huddart of consultancy firm The Lang Cat believes there could be as many as 130 businesses in the UK which provide model portfolios.
Back when Asset Allocator was cutting its milk teeth in this industry, inboxes were filled almost daily with "news" of fund launches.
The fund launches haven't necessarily dried up but the announcements about new model portfolio services (or variations - usually an ESG one - of existing MPS) have grown in number.
Apart from obvious questions around cost, there is an obvious desire to understand how peers are doing MPS.
Something which popped into the Asset Allocator inbox this week is news that The Lang Cat's Analyser system, which was developed to enable advisers to compare platforms, has now been extended to allow comparison of model portfolio services.
Huddart tells us the Analyser allows firms to do full due diligence and to compare charges and performance of MPS portfolios, something which, in a rapidly expanding market, may benefit everyone.
