Displaying items by tag: Platforms

Nearly 92% of shareholders in platform Nucleus have accepted a cash offer from rival platform James Hay which values Nucleus at about £145m.

Tom Dunbar has been appointed chief development officer at adviser platform Transact’s parent company Integrated Financial Arrangements (Integrafin).

Platform and SIPP provider AJ Bell has added the Aquis Stock Exchange (AQSE) to its online trading platform to expand the investment choices available for clients.

AJ Bell, the SIPP and platform provider, has acquired mobile phone fintech Adalpha to increase its digital offering to financial advisers.

AJ Bell is buying the Adalpha group of companies, including Ad Alpha Solutions, for an undisclosed sum.

Adalpha is developing a mobile-focused investment platform proposition for financial advisers which allows transactions and account details to be done mostly via a mobile phone. 

AJ Bell says the Adalpha platform will only be available via financial advisers.

According to the FAQs released today: “Adalpha is currently developing a simplified platform proposition for financial advisers delivered to customers via a mobile and tablet app. In essence, advisers will be provided with the software infrastructure they need to support an entirely digital service model for clients who are suited to that form of relationship and advice process.”

Manchester-based AJ Bell says it believes that this ‘simplified proposition’ has the potential to complement the company’s existing adviser platform business, AJ Bell Investcentre. 

Adalpha’s staff will join AJ Bell.

Andy Bell, chief executive of AJ Bell, said: “Financial advisers need a variety of propositions to match a diverse range of client needs. The Adalpha team are working on a simplified, mobile focused platform service that will broaden our offering to financial advisers and help them service a wider base of clients.” 

Dave Tanner, chief executive of Adalpha, said: “Our vision has always been to develop technology that helps financial advisers service a greater number of clients. Advisers should have the choice and capability to deliver their service remotely or face-to-face. As part of AJ Bell, we will be able to further develop our mobile led services and help increase clients’ engagement with their adviser.”

AJ Bell was established in 1995 and operates in the advised and direct-to-consumer sectors via AJ Bell Investcentre (adviser) and AJ Bell Youinvest (direct-to-consumer). It offers SIPPs, ISAs and General Investment / Dealing Accounts.

Private equity-owned platform James Hay has sold its closed book of SSAS schemes to Westbridge SSAS.

M&G Wealth has selected Richard Denning to be the new CEO of Ascentric, the investment platform it acquired last year from Royal London.

Private equity-owned platform James Hay is to buy rival Nucleus Financial for £145m in an all-cash deal announced today.

Rowanmoor owner the Embark Group has appointed Sara Wilson as its new head of platform proposition after she recently transferred from Alliance Trust Savings (ATS).

The owners of UK adviser platforms and SIPP providers Transact and James Hay have tabled cash offers for competitor and SIPP provider Nucleus.

The FCA has abandoned plans to ban platform exit fees.

In a regulatory update today the watchdog said the move was no longer necessary as a number of platforms had dropped exit fees after the regulator highlighted the issue.

The FCA criticised exit fees as a barrier to investors moving platforms.

The FCA’s Investment Platforms Market study (2018/19) found that while the platform market “works well overall, there were areas where it could work better.”

One of the areas highlighted was the barrier to moving platforms created by exit fees levied by a number of platforms.

The FCA said in Policy Statement 19/29 it would consult on restricting platform exit fees in Q1 2020.

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic the FCA  then delayed the move to Spring 2021.

It now says: “We have now decided to stop work on this consultation.

“Since expressing our concerns in the 2018 Interim Report, there has been a marked shift in the market away from exit fees, with at least two major platforms announcing that they would no longer be charging exit fees.

“The FCA welcomes the direction of travel by the investment platforms sector in phasing out the use of exit fees.” 

The regulator added that while it has dropped the Exit Fees Consultation it will be closely monitoring the situation and has hinted it will shake up the sector if new barriers to moving platform or any other consumer detriment emerges.

The move to drop an exit fee ban has been criticised by some.

Richard Wilson, chief executive of interactive investor, said: “We are saddened to see this news snuck out on the afternoon of Friday 13th. Exit fees are a recipe for rip offs and a genuine barrier to consumers seeking better value for money - they should have been banned.

“The FCA rightly points out that the direction of travel in the industry has been away from exit fees, in large part because interactive investor and Hargreaves Lansdown have done away with them. But there are still platforms out there that have grown far too complacent, relying on customer inertia and hefty penalties."

“There is no reason to turn off the heat - quite the opposite. Scrutiny on exit fees needs to be extended to life companies, asset and wealth managers, life insurers and beyond. We are completely bewildered by the FCA’s announcement and today is a sad day for consumers.”