Fidelity’s recently rebranded ‘Fidelity Adviser Solutions’ will now allow advisers to transact with the platform from within their own back-office systems using a single integration.
The adviser platform, which used to be called FundsNetwork, has partnered with technology provider Origo to offer the service, which avoids the need for advisers to re-key in data or use separate connections.
Fidelity will use the ‘Origo Integration Hub’, which means advisers’ back-office software systems must link with this hub in order for the straight through processing to work.
The single integration allows advisers to open accounts and conduct transactions - be it a buy, sell, switch, re-registration or cash transfer - directly with Fidelity.
The platform said this will save time, reduce costs, and mitigate the risks associated with the rekeying of information.
Advisers have, in the past, raised issues around Fidelity’s back office capabilities. Victor Sacks, a Cambridgeshire IFA, complained earlier this month about having to open up an agency in order to obtain client information.
Without an agency, he was told he would have to send a letter to the platform provider requesting the information.
Fidelity not accepting Letter of Authority via email, post only.. Squid ink and parchment it is, scroll to be strapped to Percy the carrier pigeon....
— Victor Sacks (@SmartSacks) March 29, 2022
“I’ve got no interest in opening individual agencies with fund managers, I just want to see how a client’s pension is invested,” he told FTAdviser. “I do not want a client blaming me for the length of time it takes to get data or getting a Letter of Authority in place.”
Fidelity Adviser Solutions said it was working with Sacks to look at how it could support his request.
Its move to the Origo Integration Hub is meant to alleviate the burden of administration advisers face when dealing with the platform.
“One of the biggest challenges advisers face is the burden of administration - incurring additional costs and taking up time which could otherwise be spent supporting clients,” said Samantha Christopher, Fidelity Adviser Solutions’ proposition, strategy and growth head.
“Working with Origo, we can streamline the process of administration and develop a far more efficient process for the transfer of information, ultimately creating more time for advisers to spend in other areas of their business.”
Christopher added that the platform hopes to increase the range of software suppliers Fidelity works with “in the coming months”, allowing us to support an “increasing number of clients” who could benefit from straight through processing services.
Between 2020 and 2021, the Origo Integration Hub doubled its signings to around 40 firms. There are now 46 companies signed up.
These include 12 platforms, such as Embark, Aegon, Abrdn, Aviva, M&G, and Prudential.
ruby.hinchliffe@ft.com
