Copia Capital Management, the discretionary fund manager owned by platform Novia, has launched a range of portfolios built using factor-based funds provided by Dimensional.
The range, called Select Plus, has been launched as an alternative to its Select range of portfolios aimed at accumulation.
While Select is built entirely with ETFs, Select Plus will be built with factor-based funds plus the use of ETFs to access asset classes which Dimensional doesn't have funds for.
Henry Cobbe, the head of Copia Capital Management, said: "Some ETFs have one drawback which is they weight their holdings by market cap. You always end up with the biggest companies getting bigger.
"So we are using funds from Dimensional that have a factor-based approach to investing. We are trying to bring in the best of both worlds."
He said Copia, which is owned by Novia, is the only one which offers advisers portfolios built specifically for all parts of the investment lifecycle, including accumulation and decumulation.
Mr Cobbe said the portfolios would be available on any platform which offers aggregated trading, fractional dealing and ETF access, but pointed out that the only platform which currently offers this is Novia.
The range has five risk profiles and the Select Plus Balanced portfolio will have a blended total expense ratio of 0.42 per cent, compared to the 0.24 per cent for the original Select Balanced, which is built entirely with ETFs.
Copia launched its Select range in 2016 and last year it launched a range of 20 ETF-based retirement income portfolios which it claimed were the first such products aimed specifically at decumulation.
Mr Cobbe said Copia would probably have "a bit of a pause" on development following the launch of Select Plus but said he feels the company provides portfolios for the whole lifecycle.
David Jones, head of financial adviser services for Emea for Dimensional, said: "We believe that client-focused advice and efficient, value-added access to the capital markets can be a successful combination for both advisers and their clients.
"Copia's Select Plus range brings this approach to a new audience."
damian.fantato@ft.com
