InvestmentsSep 11 2019

Premier platform launch falls behind schedule

twitter-iconfacebook-iconlinkedin-iconmail-iconprint-icon
Search supported by
Premier platform launch falls behind schedule

Fund house Premier expects to launch its adviser platform within months, following a year of delays. 

The Premier Connect service was first announced in early 2018 and was meant to launch that year.

But Mike O’Shea, chief executive of Premier Asset Management, has now told FTAdviser the service would launch “later this year” though he did not give any specific reasons for the delay, only that the company wanted to ensure it was working properly before launching.

Technology provider FNZ, which is also working on the project, declined to comment on the delays,

An official statement from Premier issued on September 6, 2019 said: “We haven’t set a specific launch date for Premier Connect.

"It is designed to offer a new online portal service for advisers. We are planning a soft launch, but our key priority is making sure we launch only when we are very confident that Premier Connect can offer the appropriate levels of service that advisers will expect.

"Premier Connect includes various online services to help advisers hold and manage their clients’ investments in Premier funds.”

Premier Connect has not been described as a platform because it will only offer Premier funds.

Instead the firm describes it as a portal that 'adds extra value for an adviser at no extra cost'.  

Advisers who hold Premier funds on the platform will not have to pay a platform charge and instead will just pay the normal asset management fee.

Clients who own a Premier fund on another platform would have to pay both a fund management fee and a platform fee. 

The launch of the platform had first been announced in a trading update covering the three months to the end of March 2018, which stated: “The new portal, which is planned to go live later in 2018, is designed to give advisers access to a range of features, including on-line transactions, client specific portfolio reporting, facilitating the payment of adviser charges and client illustrations, as well as real-time integration with a range of advisers' own back office solutions for greater adviser business efficiency.

"There will be no additional costs for advisers or their clients to use PremierConnect."

david.thorpe@ft.com