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New Model Adviser® 2 June 2008 | citywire.co.uk 36 Adviser comment Malcolm Couray has been using Ascentric since its launch in January 2007, claiming its transparency of charging whole- of-market access to funds and wrappers and the ability to white label lay behind the decision. ‘I looked at all the wraps, and it’s the most transparent,’ said Couray, managing director of Bath-based IFA firm Money Wise. ‘We don’t take commission on any of the investment deals. We invoice for our services, and the invoice for the wrap can be seen clearly in the client’s deposit account.’ Money Wise has approximately £29 million of the £100 million it manages sitting on Ascentric, with most new business going straight onto the wrap, and the firm is looking to move legacy business over to Ascentric, if there are no penalties for doing so. ‘If I was starting with a blank sheet of paper, I would go with wrap 100% – dealing with umpteen different providers is not an effective way of doing business,’ said Couray. Money Wise has white-labelled Ascentric, meaning clients accessing the wrap to see their investments see only the Money Wise logo, an important feature for Couray. ‘It’s quite a powerful proposition and strengthens the loyalty and relationship we have with our client,’ he said. He added that the platform’s unique ability to link with whatever wrapper the adviser wants, into its whole-of-market funds access, enabled IFAs to give more independent advice to clients. ‘If you want to offer whole-of-market advice, you need to be able to use a range of different product providers,’ he said. Individual users 230 User firms 52 Assets on the platform £530 million Who are the backers? Royal London Group Is there additional insurance protection for client funds above what the FSCS offers? Professional indemnity and for up to £5 million in total, and for any one instance if it exceeds that figure. Products and Funds Funds available 1,900 Do you offer both retail and institutional fund classes? Can you trade and hold alternative assets? What onshore wrappers are offered? Bond, ISA, SIPP & SSAS What offshore wrappers are offered? Offshore Bond Do you offer ‘whole of market’ access to product wrappers? What other wrappers are offered? Whole of market for ISA, SIPP, SSAS and Offshore Bond, with the Onshore Bond being provided by Zurich - the Sterling Investment Bond Do all of the wrappers offer whole of market investments? (subject to regulatory restrictions) How many funds are the platform providers own funds? 12 Tools Fact find Financial goal setting Risk questionnaire Risk profiling Fund selection tools Model portfolios* Client summary of assets/risk/choices Rebalancing* Adjustment of portfolios* CGT reporting * = Coming soon Charges Bundled or unbundled Unbundled Full rebates from the AMC charge? Initial Dealing charge £12.50 for electronic and £20 manual Do you levy switching charges? If so, what are they? A switch is a charged as a sell and a buy Additional wrapper charges for more complex wrappers? Yes, levied by the product provider Dealing charges for direct equity and fixed interest investment? Yes - £12.50 Interest rate paid on the cash account? 0 – £9,999 3.8%, £10,000 – £19,999 4.3%, £20,000 – £29,999 4.5%, £30,000 – £49,999 4.75%, >£50,000 5.00% Does the wrapper charge decrease with increased assets? 0.25% of assets up to £1 million subject to a minimum of £300 (to be lowered to a minimum of £150 from July 1), 0.1% for assets over £1 million Is all business submitted and carried out online or is there a wet signature requirement? Wet signature required Research tab with investment data and news etc? Are forms pre-populated? Can clients view their holdings online? Can advisers track business in progress? Can advisers create ‘to do’ lists Legacy & reregistration Is it possible to include new business written outside the platform on the platform? Do you allow reregistration on and off the platform? All on and all off Links Do you have any links to other platforms? Links to technology companies’ front and/or back office systems? Yes - 1st Software Transition to the new model What measures are in place to ensure the platform helps advisers to move to a fee-based business model? Platform only works on a fee-based model. Training and relationship team to support advisers Do you give advisers the option to take less initial commission and more annual trail or determine their own remuneration with clients? Yes, as agreed with client ie CAR How and when is annual trail paid? Quarterly, but soon will be monthly WRAP FACTFILE We continue our series asking leading wrap and platform providers the questions you need to know and conclude with a verdict from a new model financial planner The lowdown on Ascentric
