Sorry about the title of this post. Sometimes a piece jumps up that just fits into a cliche so neatly you can’t resist it, and this is one of those. Citywire reports that the UK Platform Group (broadly speaking the fund supermarkets) are putting together a proposal for a unified standard of disclosure for the FSA.

Now, the lang cat ain’t no purist and it is not necessarily the case that the ‘pure’ unbundled wraps are getting everything right. But we should be clear. The supermarket industry has built its success in not disclosing how monies flow around its business. They would argue – with some justification – that many clients are interested in the bottom line and don’t need or want to know how the sausages are made.

That’s fine. Also fine and very welcome is the fact that the UKPG (which should never be confused with a platform industry body, incidentally) is working on better disclosure. But as we try to build a better industry for clients and their advisers, it would be nice to think that the big guys on the UKPG might talk to their wrap compadres who have lived and breathed unbundling, disclosure and transparency for years and come up with something joint.

The industry sees a difference between wraps and other platforms. I promise you, clients don’t and neither should they have to. This is a time to work together and not to reinforce divisions that have only served the cause of internecine squabbling, not better client outcomes.

Now, if only we knew an independent consultancy that could act as a bridge between the two groups. Hang on, lads, I’ve just had an idea…