The City based organisation aims to deliver “unique, relevant and actionable insight into the issues faced by financial advisers, wealth managers, platform providers and asset managers when designing services for retail investors”.
Backed by an eight-strong advisory board – including as yet unnamed individuals from wealth and asset managers – Gliocas will mine from a comprehensive private investor database, ranging from newly qualified students to people in retirement, split across earnings, education etc.
The first report, Investor Engagement Survey, evaluates the consumer journey from the removal of commissions via RDR to the introduction of pension freedoms.
This will be followed later in the year by a second report into suitability given the FCA’s requirement that fund groups understand investors – a sometimes difficult task given the use of platforms and trusts.
“Individuals are right in the middle of a big transfer of responsibility from employer and state over to themselves, and they are being passed over to wealth managers, IFAs and fund groups to look after – everybody is running around building products, but nobody is asking the end investor what they want,” said Robertson.
“It is about those of us working on the supply side to the retail client being able to use informed data to make decisions/offerings with a decent pan-industry advisory board behind us.”
