Difference and Differentiation: What next for investment platforms? - Paper - Page 9
For asset manager owned platforms [Table 3] we
again see that Vanguard take the top spot for both
AUA and inflows. Quilter holding off Fidelity from
second through their long-standing ‘advice-platformasset’ model.
Turning the lens onto life company backed platforms
[Table 4], we still see Vanguard with a strong showing
as an asset provider of choice. Unfortunately, we can’t
see behind the veil of the Aviva and Aegon insured
funds, but the other top 10 asset providers will be
under their respective hoods, and the migration of
legacy books to platform technologies also narrows
the platform/provider distinction.
All this suggests that within each of our segment
cohorts while there is an inclination of assets towards
the funds of the owner/provider there is a greater
inclination towards Vanguard who are also near top in
relation to net flows. It also indicates that advisers are
not directing flows towards the provider behind the
platform but are using the de facto standard of open
architecture across the platform sector. It’s at this
point we should refer to SJP and True Potential who
don’t feature in the above data sets, but with £17bn of
inflows and FUM of £148.4bn for SJP and TP reporting
£6.7bn of inflows and £23.3bn AUM (£20bn in their
own portfolios) they would feature in these tables
regardless of how they were categorised. With ~£40bn
of flows into MPS solutions over the last year and that
number expected to rise it could be that advice firms
building out asset management capability is where
vertical integration will be taking place.
With broadly the same wrappers available and the
same asset providers dominating across our cohorts
there is something other than asset universe that
draws advisers to a platform. Part of this may be in
the strength of relationship and ‘trust’ between the
adviser and client. Advising a client to put their life
savings in products or a platform run by a known,
recognisable, brand – perhaps one they’ve seen
sponsoring a sports event or the arrival hall of an
airport – would be a different conversation to one
where the provider has little or no presence in the
public consciousness.
Another factor will be what we call ‘service’ – the
‘how’ that turns the ‘what’ into something engaging
and delightful. Not at all easily done.
Asset Manager Parents
Life Company Parents
Asset Provider
Proportion of
Client AUA
Proportion
of Inflows
Vanguard
8.04%
7.85%
Quilter
7.09%
Fidelity
Proportion of
Client AUA
Proportion
of Inflows
Vanguard
11.86%
10.62%
4.68%
Aviva
6.03%
3.83%
5.11%
5.12%
LGIM
5.83%
5.20%
BlackRock
3.82%
7.25%
Fidelity
4.24%
4.68%
Liontrust
3.62%
2.45%
BlackRock
4.10%
5.52%
Abrdn
3.55%
2.91%
Quilter
4.09%
0.17%
LGIM
3.30%
4.57%
HSBC
4.01%
4.59%
RLAM
3.01%
3.84%
Aegon
3.76%
-
HSBC
3.00%
3.56%
RLAM
3.64%
4.04%
Dimensional
2.53%
1.52%
Liontrust
3.42%
3.03%
Table 3 - ‘Asset Manager’ Platform AUA by Asset Provider
Asset Provider
Table 4 - ‘Life Company’ Platform AUA by Asset Provider
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