Firing lineJul 28 2021

Bill Vasilieff: 'I'm not retiring, I'm just changing tack'

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Bill Vasilieff: 'I'm not retiring, I'm just changing tack'
Bill Vasilieff, former chief executive of Novia

Bill Vasilieff has just turned 66, and although it has only been a month since he finished up as chief executive of Novia – the adviser platform he helped build from scratch – he already knows he is not retiring. 

Vasilieff says his exit from Novia means “I don’t have to work on anything I don’t want to do. I collected my pension for the first time last week, but I would also like to keep working on things I enjoy”.

I think some platforms make it more difficult than it has to be by negotiating special deals

Two of the projects he has on the go are his continued chairmanship of Novia Global, a separate business to the Novia platform in the UK, as well as a role with a drinks company, and one other, which he is not yet able to disclose. He is also a shareholder in the Tavistock business. 

He says: “I am not retiring, I am just changing tack. Novia Global is a business that works with the offshore advice market. I think in addition to my experience as a marketing person, I can bring a lot of general business experience as well. That’s what I want to do. I’ve worked at a couple of start-ups now, and that is something which teaches you a lot. I want to work on things that catch my imagination, I am not interested in being just a run of the mill NED (non-executive director).”

Vasilieff originally trained as an actuary, but never practised in that field, and instead began working in marketing for life insurance companies, and then spent eight years at fund manager M&G until 2001, culminating in a spell as head of product development.  

It was in this role he first entered the world of platforms, being involved in the creation of the original Cofunds platform. 

He says: “I worked on the original Cofunds for about four months, and then a colleague left, and a few other colleagues left to join him and create Selestia, which was a very early platform. It was backed by Old Mutual, and when they subsequently bought Skandia and decided to merge the two together, I set off to raise some money to launch a platform.”

That quest began in 2006 and by 2009 the platform was launched. 

Consolidation 

Vasilieff was there during the "big bang" moments when the platform industry was essentially created, but he has also been a player in the wave of consolidation that has been sweeping through the market in recent years.

Novia was sold to AnaCap in December 2020, and was the private equity company’s third such acquisition in the space. That deal took AnaCap's assets under administration past £11bn.

Vasilieff is adamant that such consolidation is not necessary, but says the opportunities are so attractive that private equity have come in.

He says: “This is not just about cheap money. The private equity firms love consolidation in an industry. 

“When we launched Selestia, we were told there is only room for two platforms, but obviously that wasn’t the case. When I look at the wider market, I see there are 80 or 90 life insurance companies, and probably over 100 fund management firms, so why can’t there be 15 platforms?

"But the fact is there won’t be, there will be more consolidation. The private equity firms love consolidation, they love economies of scale. There is no doubt the margins made by Novia were decimated over the years, from when we started, to where they ended up.”

He says that when the whole-of-market platforms, such as Novia, Nucleus and Transact, came into existence, “they offered greater transparency for the end client. The life companies were not very transparent and nor were they usually whole-of-market, that is what we changed".

He adds: "There is a big difference between the adviser platforms and the provider platforms, as the latter have sales that are tied to the provider. It was also the adviser platforms that brought in the innovations in the market, such as online trading, and the whole-of-market option for clients.

"I think with PI insurance being such a major issue for IFAs, that could drive more to become restricted advisers, and that is not great for clients. [Regarding] the new entrants into the market now, some of them are winning market share but not significantly and they are not making money.

"I think the thing that unites [Transact founder] Ian Taylor, [Nucleus founder] David Ferguson, and myself is that we all believed strongly in being transparent with the client.”

All three of those businesses, which were at the forefront of creating the adviser platform industry, have since been sold, with Taylor and Vasilieff both departing. 

Switching providers

An issue which has been at the forefront of many advisers' thoughts throughout the period in which Vasilieff has been in the market is the ease of switching provider. 

Vasilieff says: “At the moment the whole process is a bit clunky. I think some platforms make it more difficult than it has to be by negotiating special deals. I certainly do not think there should be exit fees; fundamentally, it is the client’s money, and if they want to move it, it's their business, and it should not be complicated. 

"A lot of the problems in the industry come from the life companies. The way they were run was very opaque, and when they entered the platform market, they brought a lot of bad habits with them.”

Vasilieff is so early into his period of extra leisure time, he has yet to work out how to spend it. 

Novia are long-term sponsors of the Bath rugby team, an arrangement that will continue under the new ownership, but Vasilieff says “it's not possible” for him to use the extra leisure time to watch more of the team’s matches as: “I already go to basically all of the games, and will still do that. And as for golf, well I’ve played for years, but I am very much a fair weather golfer, so the colder evenings won’t be seeing me on the course.

"I haven’t really had time to think about what to do next, but I am definitely not retired, I am just changing tack.” 

David Thorpe is special projects editor of FTAdviser