Tag Archives: platforms

The good in gating.

Posted on June 17, 2019 by

  The wonder of the gating of the Woodford Equity Income Fund is that it happened in peacetime. There is no financial storm, the crisis is as random of the fall of Icarus in Breughel’s famous painting. There’s no doubt … Continue reading →

Posted in advice gap, age wage, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Retail platforms – a boat worth missing?

Posted on May 26, 2019 by

I hadn’t realised until yesterday that the FCA has a SIPP and Platform team in the Retail Investment supervision department. For most of us , the idea that we are buying into a platform when we save into a pension … Continue reading →

Posted in advice gap, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The problem with platforms (is that everyone loves them).

Posted on August 14, 2018 by

Platforms are a relatively new but significant and growing distribution channel. The platform service provider market has doubled since 2013 from £250bn to £500bnassets under administration (AUA). This growth in AUA has been driven by rising markets and increasing levels … Continue reading →

Posted in pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

“Fund pays”. How platforms hide the bills till it’s too late.

Posted on May 22, 2018 by

I published a blog over the weekend , which is rather better for the comments it’s attracted. Indeed there’s an argument to read the comments and ignore the blog! The blog asked “what’s the point of platforms?”. I hadn’t expected … Continue reading →

Posted in advice gap, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

What’s the point of these fund platforms?

Posted on May 20, 2018 by

  This is a comment from an IFA on the recent history of retail investment platforms in the UK. I find AJ Bell about the best, but they too have their moments. Aviva – Rubbish Aegon – Rubbish ATS – Rubbish … Continue reading →

Posted in advice gap, pensions | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

Who wins from platforms?

Posted on July 18, 2017 by

    I enjoyed reading the FCA’s Terms of Reference for its Platform Market Study, it posed many questions and I’m looking forward to the answers. Few investors properly understand what platforms are , what they do and  how much they … Continue reading →

Posted in advice gap, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

“No more junkets if you cut our margins” – IFAs warned.

Posted on May 16, 2017 by

Delegates at PIMS 2017, a floating holiday for Financial Planners (and journalists), seem have  been threatened . “Platforms will struggle to cut charges without affecting existing services”, Seven Investment Management (7IM) head of platform Verona Smith told advisers (including New Model Adviser to … Continue reading →

Posted in pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Why active management is top-shelf material

Posted on December 17, 2016 by

I have been spending some time making a submission to the FCA about the CP16/30 transaction cost paper. While doing so- I re-read the Executive Summary of the Asset Management Study, which followed a few weeks later. It would be very … Continue reading →

Posted in pensions | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Who moved my cliche? The sorry state of the “employee benefits market”

Posted on October 17, 2016 by

  I was suffeciently underwhelmed by the “vibrant employee benefits live exhibition” last week to stay just 20 minutes. Bearing in mind the Boris Bike ride from the City to Kensington Olympia, this represented a poor return on my time. … Continue reading →

Posted in pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments