In its annual Investment Platform Study it found more than a quarter of UK advisers (26.4%) cite platform and fund manager costs as the single most important consideration in 2012, up from 22% last year.
“In a choppy market, cost is now a more important decision driver for many advisers,” the report said.
Meanwhile, adviser satisfaction in the platforms they use derives mainly from a combination of service (23%), functionality (20%) and support (19.7%).
“Satisfaction among advisers is on the rise, perhaps reflecting the fiercer-than-ever competition pervading the market. And with inflows stuttering in 2012, platforms seem to be going the extra yard to keep advisers happy,” said Craig Phillips, principal at CoreData Research.
Almost three in ten advisers (29.1%) would recommend their main platform to another adviser, up from 19.7% last year and 21.8% in 2010, he added.
Typically, advisers write business through two or three platforms (63%) while only 15% use a single platform.
CoreData Research’s report was conducted over a four-week period from late May, with 1,245 advisers taking part. Platforms were benchmarked against 40 service level metrics and also their sized-related peers.
