PlatformsMar 10 2021

Parmenion chief: Advisers ‘rest easy’ as no plans to change platform

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Parmenion chief: Advisers ‘rest easy’ as no plans to change platform
Martin Jennings, chief executive officer of Parmenion

Parmenion will not change under its new private equity ownership, the chief executive of the platform has assured advisers.

Parmenion is the latest platform to be snapped up by a private equity house, with Standard Life Aberdeen announcing its £102m sale to Preservation Capital Partners yesterday afternoon (March 9).

Speaking to FTAdviser, Martin Jennings, chief executive officer of Parmenion, said although ownership has changed hands, there would be no real change.

Jennings said: “It will be business as usual for us. We have been delivering significant growth over the last few years and have been really focused on maintaining our service levels, delivering great product and continuing to grow the business.”

When the sale of the platform was first announced back in November, advisers raised concerns stating that the primary outcome they hope for from any deal was for the platform to “stay the same”.

They feared any sale would “probably be negative” as it would come with changes and they could not praise the current platform enough.

But Jennings said advisers can now “rest easy” because the business is staying as is.

He said Preservation was buying the business in its entirety and was buying into the strategy that the senior management have put in place and the business plan it has for the next five years.

Jennings said: “Nobody should have any concerns, and if there was anybody considering utilising the Parmenion service and was holding off because of ownership concerns they should give us a call and start to do their due diligence on us and drive that forward.

"Also those who have not considered us should now take a look.”

Jennings said the fact it had launched a data and information service called Vantage at the beginning of February during the middle of its sale process should give advisers confidence that service levels will not change.

He said: “We launched one of the most significant product enhancements that we have launched in quite a few years right in the middle of a sale process. If that doesn’t give you confidence then what will?”

Parmenion which only has £8.1bn in assets under management is overshadowed by Wrap and Elevate, SLA’s more mainstream adviser platforms which have a combined £67bn in assets.

When asked whether the platform would look to challenge the big players in the market, Jennings said this was not the business’s goal.

“We just want to do what we do and do it really well,” Jennings said. “If that means we challenge the big players then great but that’s not our target.” 

He added: “We are not sat here looking at anybody else and saying we really wish we did what they did. 

“We want to focus on what we do and this is focusing on adviser partners for them to outsource their central investment proposition to us to allow them to focus on the things that they are really good at. 

“We are not here trying to give advice, we are here working with them to allow them to spend more time with their clients.”

amy.austin@ft.com

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