There are currently more than 15 players competing for advisers attention. (Source: Tom Ellis: How Embark Group became the new platform beast published 21/11/2019)
- Tier 1: £50bn+ of Aegon, Standard Life (purchased Cofunds and Elevate) and Quilter's Old Mutual Wealth.
- Tier 2: £30bn+ of Embark Group (£33bn), Transact, AJBell and Fidelity Funds Network
Elsewhere, after months of speculation FNZ finally completed the acquisition of platform tech rival GBST. This means the majority of adviser platforms, including big guns, Standard Life Wrap and Elevate, Aegon, AJ Bell, and soon to be Old Mutual Wealth, will be powered by the same company. If they are then consolidated onto the same underlying technology that could have significant and interesting ramifications for the market in terms of concentration risk and a potential lack of differentiation. It is certainly one to watch closely – we certainly will. (from email)
FNZ and GBST were the two biggest platform technology names in the UK, providing the underlying technology to 10 of 18 major adviser platforms. "All the big brands will be using the combined organisation, " he said. "I think from the adviser point of view, they'll be wanting to understand what it means for them. Source: FNZ completes acquisition of platform tech rival GBST published 06/11/2019