Platforum's Mackay supports single wrap solution
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The Platforum managing director Holly Mackay says there is nothing wrong with IFAs who adopt and use just one platform.
Mackay says a letter sent by the FSA to small firms last week warning them about consolidation vehicles has thrown the spotlight back on the question of whether an IFA can use one platform.
In the Platforum weekly newsletter she says: “I see absolutely no reason why they can’t and I think that those trying to claim otherwise are trying to be too black and white.”
Referring to the FSA’s RDR consultation paper, which asks whether the regulator should change the way it regulates the platform market, she says: “Until I hear definitively to the contrary, my personal take on this is that the widespread adoption of one platform for an IFA firm is absolutely fine, indeed it can make practical and commercial sense and can in itself keep costs for clients down.”
Platforum research found that 46 per cent of IFAs surveyed plan to use one platform going forward. Mackay says there’s nothing inherently wrong with this as long as this suits each individual client.
However Mackay adds: “Indeed a platform per se may not be the answer for every client, and tailor the advice for that particular client accordingly. It seems to be common sense that when it comes to bulk transfers or migration to a platform, each client needs to be assessed individually.”
Nucleus chief executives David Ferguson says: “My sense is that if an IFA has a reasonably homogenous client bank then one platform is probably a great idea. The reality is that few IFAs run such a refined model and that therefore while one platform might meet the majority of their clients’ requirements they will have to recommend alternative solutions from time to time.”
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