In recent months we have explored some areas of demand within the model portfolio service market, so this week thought it worth a look the supply side of the ledger.
Aided by our friends at the Lang Cat, we found out that Waverton is the most readily-available product for clients, on an impressive 21 platforms.
Close behind are Brooks Macdonald, EQ, and LGT with 20, plus Brewin Dolphin and 8AM with 19.
We got in touch with John Bellamy, head of Waverton’s adviser solutions and he chastised us that their total is now 26, but for the sake of comparison we’ll use the Lang Cat figures.
He put the company's success largely down to its in-house capabilities.
“One of the reasons we can do it is because of the simplicity of our models,” he said. “Our MPS has four of our own asset class funds so it means that when we come to rebalance – which we do fairly frequently – it’s far less complicated than a traditional fund-of-funds model. So if you’re running a fund of fund holdings with, say, 25 holdings and you’re on 20 platforms, and you want to do a rebalance, good luck with that. That’ll take you two weeks plus, whereas we can do all of ours in a day.”
Platforms are perhaps the best channel through which to spread the product to the masses, something Quilter noted when they spread their WealthSelect MPS to multiple platforms on the eve of its 10-year anniversary.
They debuted on Parmenion, Morningstar, and M&G in February, and Asset Allocator touched base to see how that’s been going.
“We are excited to share that we are in the advanced stages of discussions to introduce WealthSelect to three additional platforms, hopefully in the first half of 2024,” revealed Jenny Davidson, Quilter’s commercial proposition director.
“This expansion is part of our ongoing effort to make WealthSelect accessible to a broader audience. We are also planning further launches in the second half of the year, demonstrating our commitment to continuous growth and accessibility,” she said.
Indeed the sales team at Quilter seem to be making the most of strong demand for the WealthSelect range. According to NextWealth, it was the fastest growing MPS by net asset growth in 2023, with £2.6bn in assets added last year, before the platform expansion came into play.
