Advisers have levelled criticism at Alliance Trust Savings after they ran into problems with the platform’s new technology provider.
Back in 2014, Alliance Trust Savings signed an agreement with technology provider GBST to power the platform, and started migrating existing customers towards the end of last year.
While the platform is still accepting new business through its current provider Activebank, it decided to halt new business through GBST from 1 December until early next year.
Advisers have told FTAdviser they have faced problems with the new technology, and some have been reluctant to move clients onto GBST.
However a spokesman for GBST stated there is no issue with GBST Composer or the ATS advised platform.
Wendy Cochran, independent financial adviser at Dalbeath Financial Planning, said the first and only time she put a client on the new platform had been a “disaster”.
She said the platform had been generating trades randomly, such as selling out of all UK equity funds, and had ring-fenced cash for no reason so the money couldn’t be used to allocate to investments.
Ms Cochran also said Alliance Trust Savings had taken more than two months to transfer a pension.
“We still have clients on the old system, but have not moved any new ones since the problems arose; we are not happy they are moving to the new system,” she said.
“We are now left in a position where we have zero confidence in Alliance Trust Savings, and sadly our client has little confidence in us; it is hard to explain to a client that 'the computer did it'.”
Trevor Whiting, partner at Core Financial, said he had faced similar problems with the GBST platform.
He suggested there had been lack of communication between Alliance Trust Savings and GBST when it comes to building the platform, adding the project management and delivery had been “poor” because the new platform doesn’t work properly.
“But we support what Alliance Trust are doing here because they have recognised the new platform is not fit for purpose and they are pulling it.”
He pointed out that the platform wanted to offer a seamless online offering which can operate with fewer staff, but the small number of staff had been “swamped” dealing with the issues.
But Mr Whiting added: “I would hate to see Alliance Trust suffer over the long-term because we have got a lot of assets on the platform and a lot of customers who are dependent on them.”
One adviser, who did not want to be named, said he had held back moving clients onto the new platform.
He said: “It would appear there are some issues with the new technology, otherwise they wouldn’t be stopping assets being moved, which is a shame because the offering from Alliance Trust Savings is the best in the market.
“I’m sure a lot of providers would like to see Alliance Trust Savings go down the toilet because the platform is so cheap.”
Dan Elkington, IFA at Chattertons Solicitors, said: "The migration clearly isn’t going as smoothly as they might have hoped.
"I’m sure they’re more disappointed with this than their users, because their 2016 mid-year report was looking promising for a good 2016.”
Responding to the criticism, Ed Carey, sales director at Alliance Trust Savings, admitted technology is not easy to implement, but said the firm was taking the “sensible option” by pausing new business.
“We have been upfront with advisers about that, but it’s very much business as usual in the meantime.”
Mr Carey said the new platform should improve functionality, adding: “Once we go live with that new technology, there will be a lot of benefits in terms of trading.”
“We have introduced this technology in a phased way deliberately; we have been cautious.
“Half of the market is re-platforming at the moment and I think we have been quite brave to put a pause on this and make sure it’s done safely.”
While he admitted a lot of money has been spent on platform technology, he said the business is in “good shape” and was confident it would make a “meaningful profit” in 2016.
In a joint statement between GBST and Alliance Trust Savings, a spokesman said: “There is no issue with GBST Composer or the ATS advised platform.
“Implementations of new technology can work in many different ways. In this case, a small-scale test ran with a controlled number of advisers to ensure the system and the business processes around it were working properly.
“Now that’s complete, the next, long-planned phase is to release the system into a fully live environment and then open it to new business before migrating existing assets across.
"That’s why those few firms who were on the pilot have been asked to pause placing new business. It’s a commonplace and sensible phased approach that we know many advisers appreciate.
“GBST and Alliance Trust Savings are long-term strategic partners. We have an excellent working relationship and both fully expect a trouble-free implementation.
"This very brief pause is simply to ensure a smooth transition from ActiveBank to the new Composer technology. In the meantime, it’s business as usual. Advisers can still place new business with ATS without any disruption to service.”
This article was updated with comment from GBST and Alliance Trust Savings on 8 December.
