Coutts has joined forces with funds giant BlackRock to launch six funds for clients of the wider NatWest Group.
The wealth manager and private bank announced today (October 26) it had partnered with BlackRock as part of its work to reduce fees for its customers.
Through the new relationship, Coutts and BlackRock will launch six funds for clients of Coutts and the broader NatWest Group.
The range will consist of three actively managed portfolios — US equities, UK equities and global investment grade credit — and three index funds, investing in US, UK and European equities.
Coutts will determine the strategic and tactical asset allocation for all funds, while BlackRock will manage the passive range and a manager, potentially BlackRock, will be selected for the three active funds.
The companies said all six funds would be run on Aladdin, BlackRock’s “market-leading risk management platform”, and used within Coutts existing investment offerings.
Peter Flavel, chief executive at Coutts, said: “BlackRock’s platform will benefit our clients significantly.
“Its scale and global research capabilities means our asset management team have the best possible tools at their disposal to do what they do best - make clever, market-beating investment decisions.
“I’m proud to be in a position to present clients with not only savings on the cost to invest, but with greater investment opportunities too.”
The news is the latest development in Coutts’ strategy to reduce the cost of investing for clients.
In September the company announced it had shaken up its advice fees, switching to a lower-cost fixed fee structure, followed shortly by a reduction in its investment platform pricing from 0.35 per cent to 0.15 per cent.
Stephen Cohen, head of wealth for EMEA at BlackRock, said: “We are delighted to have been selected to work with Coutts to help scale efficiencies in their management of client assets, and accelerate their growth ambitions.
“The quality of our investment building blocks – the flexibility of our platform, our risk management expertise and research capabilities – enables us to deliver this set of bespoke funds to complement and enhance the existing Coutts proposition.”
imogen.tew@ft.com
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