Independent advisers are concerned that consolidation means there is less focus on the interests of the client from the sector as a whole.
DFM and boutique investment consultancy Albemarle Street Partners has launched a manifesto setting out five points which would help smaller independent advisers prosper as part of a 'Coalition of the Independents' as IFA Magazine reports.
The survey, underpinning the manifesto, shows that 59.1% of advisers polled believe the main drawback of a more consolidated sector is a ‘weaker focus on the best interests of clients’.
The manifesto calls for the following
- Action on the cost of borrowing
- Increasing education and awareness of advice as a profession
- Creation of an Independent Academy
- Addressing the cost of compliance
- Encouraging light-touch regulation
It is worth a read, but it does seem to require independents to work together and perhaps even a sympathetic regulator.
Another day – another hybrid advice launch. Charles Stanley launches OneStep with the aim of delivering value to individuals “looking to take their first step on the planning journey with light touch guidance”.
It will be interesting to see if these initiatives close the advice gap and along with guidance services increase the numbers investing.
Advice firms spend on average 71 days per year operating their centralised investment proposition (CIP), a study by Copia Capital Management finds.
Of the 71 days firms spend operating their CIP, monitoring the portfolios takes 15 days on average, maintenance 12 days, and reporting activities 31 days, reports Money Marketing.
This sounds far from ideal but does come from a firm that is suggesting outsourcing.
UK investors withdrew £3.4bn from UK funds in March with fixed income funds, seeing net outflows of £3.3bn in the month, according to the Investment Association.
UK dividends fell by 25 per cent in the first quarter of this year as one off payments fell back.
The Bank of England has increased base rates to 1 per cent, but the real eye-catching number may be its suggestion that inflation could reach 10 per cent this year. Brace yourselves.
