More than half of advisers are seeking to rationalise the number of platforms that they use, according to research by Aviva.
The survey by the provider found that 59 per cent of advisers said they want to reduce the number of platforms they use.
The trend of moving towards using fewer platforms is evident as none of the advisers surveyed reported using more than five platforms, with most (70 per cent) using two or three.
This is compared to research three years ago, among 731 advisers, which revealed 11 per cent of advisers used more than five platforms, and 58 per cent used two or three.
Al Ward, head of Aviva adviser platform, said: “The move towards using fewer platforms is understandable in a maturing market, as advisers become accustomed to the way their preferred platform works, and the market itself is seeing more consolidation and standardised tech.
“It’s important, however, that advisers keep in mind the individual needs of their clients, some of whom might be better served on one platform over another. In the drive to provide good consumer outcomes, it’s a good idea to have options.”
The survey, which asked 1,003 respondents, found that two-thirds (65 per cent) of advisers said their firm had several platforms available and they can choose which one they use, and 64 per cent said they tend to use one main platform.
These levels are broadly similar to what was found in 2020 where the corresponding figures were 64 per cent and 61 per cent, Aviva said.
It would seem, therefore, that using fewer is down to the personal choice of advisers, rather than company policy.
However, 59 per cent agreed that the longer-term aim is for firms to reduce the number of platforms they use.
Factors which impact advisers’ choice of platform have changed since 2020, when the top three were overall tech reliability (88 per cent), followed by choice of funds available (86 per cent) and value for money (85 per cent).
These have been replaced by ease of integration (57 per cent), followed by range of retirement solutions (56 per cent) and ability to build bespoke portfolios (55 per cent).
Ward said: “As client needs evolve, so advisers’ requirements of their platform change too.
“Data integration has long been an issue for advisers, and the fact that over half of them believe it stops them effectively doing their job bears this out.
“Advisers also report that administration is more onerous now than in the past, and this has impacted the ease of switching customers away from main platforms.”
The changing requirements reflect the 57 per cent of advisers who agreed that difficulty of systems integration prevents them from doing their job effectively.
This is almost twice as high as in 2020, where 30 per reported the same issue.
Similarly, more than twice the number of advisers currently said that platform admin prevents them from doing their job properly – 55 per cent compared with 22 per cent in 2020.
Aviva’s research also found that following the implementation of consumer duty in July, over half of advisers (56 per cent) said that it’s too difficult to switch clients – up on 2020 where only a quarter (25 per cent) agreed.
In a further shift, only 4 per cent of advisers said they don’t segment their customer base, compared with 36 per cent in 2020.
Aviva said client value remains the most common method of segmentation.
Ward added: “Advisers and platform providers need to work together to ensure that these difficulties do not get in the way of delivering the best outcomes for customers, especially in the light of our obligations under the consumer duty.
“It is good news, however, that more advisers are now using customer segmentation with their client base, which means they will be better prepared to define target markets, an important consumer duty requirement.”
Elsewhere, there has been a significant increase in the value of assets a client must have before advisers will take them on.
In 2020, 60 per cent of advisers said there was no lower limit on the value of a client, but this has more than halved to 22 per cent.
Advisers now require more value before taking on clients – 40 per cent require a client value of £30,000 to £50,000, compared with 11 per cent in 2020, and 28 per cent require it to be £50,000 to £75,000, compared with 5 per cent.
However, fewer advisers are now reporting that they require very high levels of wealth before they take on a new client, with 7 per cent currently asking for a minimum value of £75,000 or over, compared with 16 per cent doing the same in 2020.
sonia.rach@ft.com
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