Nucleus says it's managing potential conflicts

16 September 2010 | By Natalie Holt

Nucleus chief executive David Ferguson says he is satisfied that the IFA-owned platform is managing conflicts of interest effectively.

The FSA raised the need for the disclosure of conflicts of interest between IFA firms and platforms after it fined Moneywise IFA £19,600 for investment advice failings.

The firm was also reprim-anded for failing to manage conflicts of interest that related to Moneywise director Malcolm Coury, who was a non-executive director of Ascentric, which is the platform Moneywise used.

Ferguson says: “We absolutely agree that where there is the potential for conflicts of interest, it should be very act-ively disclosed by the IFA.
“As a platform, we provide the disclosure in all the customerfacing literature, with wording that basically states: ’Your adviser has shares in the company providing this platform’.”

Ferguson says advisers are also holding up-front discussions about their platform choice with clients.

Hesays: “Nucleus would not be where it is today in terms of proposition and the way that we operate if it was not for the active input of the IFAs as shareholders.”

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