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Presented by Just Service Global: offering a technology partner and network solution to International IFA firms:
Platforms can offer more than just low costs
Technology can help alert advisers when their clients really need them.
Fund platforms have become a vital part of the financial advice space. They have been battling it out to get attention from advisers given their past dependency on life insurance products and tools provided by insurance companies e.g. adviser portals. These are no longer sufficient.
How do platforms, including networks with platforms, differentiate themselves in a world where it has become increasingly important for business owners to offer their advisers more product/service solutions?
New age platforms arguably are now the most important thing that will ensure survival, let alone growth, including lower admin costs and deliver more value for clients and advisers.
In the past, advisers can handle realistically between 50 to 70 clients. With the right platform this can be 100 or even 150 clients. Platforms help advisers to be more productive. It will increasingly have a massive impact on an industry who currently average less than 20 basis points on their total assets under management (clearly not sustainable at that low level).
Each owner needs to pick a platform that will best serve them in terms of efficiency and value to both advisers and clients.
The real efficiencies come from the software itself not about margins.
If you have access to the right technology you can innovate and create additional value, efficiencies and more exit strategies for the owner.
How technology can help manage client portfolios
Some interesting comments from Yodelar UK, a portfolio manager in the UK.
They regularly review portfolios for investors and find 9 of 10 contain poor performing funds, funds that consistently perform in the worst 25% of the sector.
Most investors are unaware they are invested in poor performing funds and that inefficient, poor performing fund managers may dramatically affect their future wealth.
New age applications can alert an adviser to poor performing funds held within client portfolios and give them the opportunity to demonstrate how their service can now help add value (making the charging or advisory fees much easier to justify).
Yodelar also reviewed almost 8000 pension funds, 4300 life funds and 2400 unit trust funds. Each of these funds were then provided with a performance rating based on how they performed within their sector compared with all other same sector competing funds. St James Place had 117 funds and 93 funds that showed low ratings. ( where they consistently ranked worse than 50% of competing funds-usually bottom quartile: this means 80% of their funds underperformed).
Abbey Life in second place followed by HBOS and Lloyds TSB.
What are the potential benefits of joining a network?
It can be advantageous in particular for smaller firms because a network would usually handle both regulatory and legal responsibilities necessary to continue to provide advisory services For individuals running firms they need to be honest in assessing their firm’s current capabilities and competencies and consider their weaknesses – particularly relevant in order to stay relevant (and of value) to advisers and clients.
A quick summary of the benefits of becoming part of a network:
Firstly, the benefits you would expect any professional network to provide:
- Licensing umbrella = more certainty of retaining all revenues from institutions
- Backroom administration = lower admin costs
- regular communication to clients to keep them engaged = more client engagement for up and cross-selling
- new business processing
- recurring commissions/fee tracking and payment
- access to a broader range of products
The Just Service Global Network has all of these capabilities plus exclusive to our partners are:
- model portfolios (regulars, singles and open architecture bonds/fund platforms)
- monthly valuation update to clients including uploading our mobile app
- regular blogs and other marketing content to clients
- online partner Dashboard - includes two click view to any client valuation and alerts
- online portfolio review app (to lift return on your AUM) - including auto-populated switch forms following portfolio changes
- easy tracking of client review histories
……..and more applications currently being built
As always talk to your adviser within the Just Service network if you would like information or otherwise review your savings, investment or pension plans.
For all enquiries email info@justserviceglobal.com
Regards
The Just Service Client Service Team
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