Difference and Differentiation: What next for investment platforms? - Paper - Page 8
Tackling the dabbit:
What is a product provider & what is a platform?
As we see more AUA falling under the stewardship of
life company and asset manager platforms, a natural
question to ask is: why is this taking place? Some
argue it is a drive to capture more of the value chain
and control distribution of their product (asset/unit/
pension) but how does that stack up against the flow
of investments?
Looking across the top 10 holdings by AUA for advised
platforms [Table 1] we can see a big chunk of assets
sitting with Vanguard, almost twice that of Quilter and
Fidelity. Vanguard also comes out on top when we
look at where buy orders are being placed, slipping
behind HSBC and LGIM for net flows. [Based on 2022
AUA and flows data provided by Finscape]
If we apply the broad platform parentage classification
to the Finscape data, then with the lion’s share of
AUA sitting with ‘wraps’, we will look there first to see
where some of that might sit [Table 2]. Vanguard come
out strong in both level of holdings and proportion
of inflows. The interesting entries in this view are
Omnis and Seven IM, which point to the position
of multi-asset and risk-based solutions in the open
architecture mix for retail advised platforms. Valu-Trac
adds another interesting dimension where, as an ACD
for smaller fund managers, wealth managers, and a
platform, they show that a movement of assets and
inflows are moving beyond the big names, or in an
echo of how platforms have become providers, model
portfolios are becoming unitised funds.
All Platforms
Wrap Platforms
Asset Provider
Proportion of
Client AUA
Proportion
of Inflows
Vanguard
9.38%
10.10%
Quilter
4.76%
Fidelity
Proportion of
Client AUA
Proportion
of Inflows
Vanguard
10.09%
12.94%
2.25%
Omnis Investments Ltd
9.55%
4.97%
4.53%
5.16%
BlackRock
4.58%
8.58%
BlackRock
4.07%
7.32%
Fidelity
3.53%
5.54%
LGIM
3.85%
5.08%
LGIM
3.30%
5.73%
HSBC
3.08%
3.88%
Dimensional
3.15%
5.09%
Liontrust
3.05%
2.27%
3.03%
1.75%
RLAM
2.90%
3.68%
Valu-Trac Investment
Management
Omnis Investments Ltd
2.89%
1.90%
HSBC
2.45%
3.88%
Abrdn
2.51%
2.04%
Baillie Gifford
2.44%
1.18%
58.98%
56.31%
Seven Investment
Management
2.05%
0.73%
The Rest
Table 1 - Market AUA by Asset Provider
Asset Provider
Table 2 - ‘Wrap’ Platform AUA by Asset Provider
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