Price is not the most important thing considered by advisers when looking at switching platforms, according to Scottish Widows.
Ranila Ravi-Burslem, the firm’s intermediary distribution director, told FT Adviser as “new kids on the block” with the Scottish Widows Platform, understanding platform switching was an important aspect of meeting growth ambitions.
The Scottish Widows Platform was rebranded from Embark Platform back in July 2023 after the firm purchased it as part of a £390mn deal in 2021.
Ravi-Burslem said when looking at which adviser platform to choose, service and functionality tend to be the most important factors considered by advisers.
She added: “When it comes to price, they're not that bothered about this from a switching perspective. We know price has been driven down quite significantly, so most people are kind of there or thereabouts in the market."
As consolidation is a key theme in the sector, advisers are also looking for stability, said Ravi-Burslem.
“Financial strength is seen as really important,” she said.
“If you think about what's happening in terms of consolidation in the market, you can understand why people want stability.
“People want to be with a provider who is here for the long term and how much money the owner will have to invest in the platform to keep up with the innovation in the market.”
Ravi-Burslem anticipates the trend of consolidation will be one which will continue.
She added: "In terms of what will happen in the future of the market, it is still very fluid in terms of M&A activity and ownership models.
"Can the market continue to sustain the number of platforms that are there? I don't know.
"I see the market consolidating a little bit more."
Ravi-Burslem said each year around a third of financial advisers will consider switching platforms.
Therefore it is important to help advisers from the new platform with switching, she said.
Improvement plan
Scottish Widows Platform has faced criticism from advisers about service issues in recent years.
Ravi-Burslem said an improvement enhancement plan was part of addressing these concerns.
“Firstly, we've invested from a people perspective, so we have increased the number of people in our service and operations areas, as well as investing from a digital perspective, so we've got a very clear view of what the friction points were.
“We've got an ongoing improvement enhancement plan, based on continuous adviser feedback.”
The final thing was to deliver training to both staff and advisers on how to use the platform, this includes consultants visiting advisers and holding drop-in sessions.
tara.o'connor@ft.com
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