These days there are a number of providers of wrap platform services, such as James Hay, Elevate, or Transact. These platforms provide a way for people, or their financial advisers, to hold all their investments in a single, accessible online platform in a range of tax efficient wrappers.
You should regularly review the position of your pensions in the platform market. Is your current provider still the best place to be? Also, monitor the investment funds to ensure they are doing what you want them to do and do not overstep your risk profile. Ensure the pension or investments you hold are in the best place to get the best service and remove and replace any funds that are not performing or no longer suit your objectives.
However, most individual investors don’t have the time or expertise to evaluate the pros and cons of the various platforms but at Reeves we conduct regular reviews and comparisons because the pension and investment markets are regularly changing and platforms change.
Reeves is an independent adviser and therefore isn’t paid by, or tied to, any particular platform/provider. In fact, every year we pay a third party to do research on all platforms in the market. They examine various angles, such as ‘must have’ features, ‘good to have’ and they also review cost. There will always be new features released by different platforms. We can’t predict when or by whom. What may be the front runner one year, may not be in that position in the next.
We want the best outcome for our clients, so we don’t charge an initial fee if a new platform is out there that would be better for them and that we would recommend. We do the research, advice and administrative work at no charge.
We always have access to the best platforms available but, if we don’t think there will be a benefit to our clients, we won’t make the change. Some platforms may be better than others in some respects but, if they’re high in cost, we have to judge whether this will outweigh any benefit. This is all to give peace of mind to the client that any changes in circumstances – even those they’re unaware of - are catered for.
When Reeves client Joseph Stephenson joined us he held his investments on a platform that was best for accumulating wealth. But, when he changed his retirement plans, our third party research indicated that a different platform was better suited to his income needs. Therefore, we transferred him free of charge to save him various charges in retirement (some platforms charge for taking income) and a better service for income.
Joseph recently told us: “You make constant improvements… provide reports that are easy to read.’’
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The articles are for information only and should not be construed as advice or a recommendation.
Names have been changed to protect identity.
No advice should be conferred from the articles. No action should be taken without independent professional financial advice as any actions on your pension may be irrevocable and have a big impact on your income in retirement.