/Platforms

Aberdeen Standard Investments’ MyFolio Lookthrough Tool

In this 12-page paper we take a look at ASI's updated MyFolio Lookthrough Tool.

In this 12-page paper we take a look at ASI’s updated MyFolio Lookthrough Tool. That’s presumably not a galloping surprise given the title.

ASI has put this out at an interesting time. Taken in the round, the FCA’s studies into the asset management and investment platform markets, along with advisers’ new responsibilities under PROD and disclosure under MiFID II, mean that the suitability of centralised investment propositions on platforms is an area that we need to spend some time thinking about as an industry.

When we look at this space, we see a couple of immediately obvious areas of concern

  • Client reporting remains really awful on far too many platforms, which makes advisers’ lives harder in terms of demonstrating suitability;
  • We find a sort of reflexive prejudice against multi-asset fund investing from lots of advisers, based on the ‘single line of stock’ problem. This leads firms to create more complex model portfolio structures, which might well be suitable, but which will each require 5 km2 of virgin Amazonian rainforest for the paper on which the disclosures will be printed.

The two are, of course, linked. And so when ASI puts out a piece of kit that aims to help advisers improve client reporting and demonstrate what’s going on inside their own multi-asset range, we think it’s worth a look. So the paper covers not only the new tool (which isn’t the finished article yet, but has lots of things to like) but also some thoughts on these issues and what the sector needs to do about them.

The paper is free to download. As ever we believe in full disclosure: ASI paid us to produce it, but we don’t say anything in it that we wouldn’t say if we weren’t being paid. Trust us or don’t, but it is the truth.

/ Additional reports

The Advice Gap 2024

The study blends research from 2,000 consumers and over 200 advice professionals on the lang cat’s advice panel. 

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.