All hotting up – AXA Self Investor declares its hand

So here we go with the first of the week’s pricing launches in the direct platform space. AXA Self Investor (disclosure: ASI is a client of the lang cat) has been around for a wee while, but hasn’t really pushed it in the direct space; preferring to test out instead whether it could act as […]

All hotting up – AXA Self Investor declares its hand

So here we go with the first of the week’s pricing launches in the direct platform space. AXA Self Investor (disclosure: ASI is a client of the lang cat) has been around for a wee while, but hasn’t really pushed it in the direct space; preferring to test out instead whether it could act as […]

Back for more – Hargreaves Lansdown, Part The Second

That’s been quite a day. Reaction to HL’s announcement has been pretty mixed – more than I thought it would have been. Hater of the day prize goes to Dan Hyde in the super soaraway Torygraph with this piece – “Why investors should leave Hargreaves Lansdown“. Others were a bit more measured, and for once […]

Happyish New Year – ATS hikes its charges

Well, here we are on the last day of 2013 and I’m writing about platform pricing. Plus ca change, and all that. Our subject today – and I’ll be brief – is Alliance Trust Savings (disclosure: ATS is a client of the lang cat), which has hiked its price for both advised and direct customers. […]

The lang cat’s albums of 2013

So for no other reason than I can, let’s leave all that financial services crap aside for a bit and concentrate on the really important stuff – what music was on heavy rotation on the lang cat’s patented Tune-O-Matic Stereogram this year. I appreciate this is massively self-indulgent, more so than usual even, but there’s […]

PS13/1 – calling all advisers

It’s been a week since we launched our first ever white/yellow and grey paper, It’s all about you: Tackling your PS13/1 due diligence requirements’ and it’s fair to say that we’ve been bowled over by the response. There’s been a lot of tweeting and some press activity which is great but the thing that really […]

It’s all about you…and PS13/1

Mention a song title and a tune or lyrics will instantly spring to your mind. For you, it’s the most natural thing in the world. But perception differs. The song I think of might be quite different to the one you think of. Such is the nature of consciousness. You can’t fight it. The lang […]

Architaxa takes it up a notch and a surprising admission

Part of being independent is having the freedom to say what you think, even when it’s not popular or doesn’t do you very much good. This normally translates to having a pop at stuck-in-the-past lifecos if you’re me, as the long and growing list of folk who would rather have endless Miley Cyrus videos beamed […]

Whiskers on kittens

Having seen out my first week in my new home at the lang cat I decided to take some time to reflect upon the experience to date. That and the fact that I was locked out of the office meant that there wasn’t much else to be getting on with for a while. Much has […]

Impact of poor service

/ White papers

The Impact of Poor Service

We provided the research for a report, in conjunction with Parmenion, which reveals how far short of expectations many adviser platforms are falling. The research found that over the last 12 months, 88% of advisers needed to apologise to at least one of their clients on behalf of a platform, and that poor service delivery from platforms impacts 91% of advisers every day.

Impact of poor service

/ White papers

The Impact of Poor Platform Service

We provided the research for a report, in conjunction with Parmenion, which reveals how far short of expectations many adviser platforms are falling. The research found that over the last 12 months, 88% of advisers needed to apologise to at least one of their clients on behalf of a platform, and that poor service delivery from platforms impacts 91% of advisers every day.

/ White papers

Answering the Call

Service means a lot of things to a lot of different people. It’s so subjective it can be hard to put your finger on. This paper aims to challenge the status quo and inertia that’s built up in the sector for many years.