Nucleus, Transact and Novia have all revealed that they have experienced a surge in business over the past few months, with Novia announcing today that new business has increased by 60% since January.
Barry Neilson, business development manager at Nucleus Financial, said: “There has been an uptick in business since the start of Q4 2012, and we’ve had a solid increase in year on year inflows. It would seem that advisers spent the summer months preparing for the introduction of RDR, and since then they have been re-engaging with clients.”
Advisers have also been looking at the online platforms they have been using and considering whether or not they are still fit for purpose.
Malcolm Murray, head of marketing at Transact, said: “There has been lots of activity and we have been undertaking considerably more due diligence, which is a great sign. It’s almost as if there is a surge of relief among advisers now that it’s finally here and they’ve had all their questions answered. It’s certainly an exciting time for platforms.”
No signs of slowing down
The flurry of activity is likely to continue as advisers are also being encouraged to consider multi-platform offerings to ensure that they are operating in the best interests of their clients.
The FSA has already stated that platform advice will become a supervisory priority going forward and that there will be tough regulatory action taken in response to any breaches, while any firm claiming that a single platform proposition will be in the client’s best interest will be viewed with suspicion.
A recent survey by Investec Wealth & Investment, meanwhile, showed that 34% of advisers are planning to increase the number of client portfolios they hold on platforms. At present around 11% of client investments are outsourced and IFAs use an average of three platforms.
The FSA’s long-awaited platform paper, which should finalise rules around kickbacks is due at the end of Q1 but recent reports suggest it might come out even later.
