IN THE BACK
your favourite platform isn ’ t going anywhere anytime soon . The use of the blockchain would offer the promise of instant settlement , like with shares . However , it would require all fund management firms to adopt the technology , and the gulf between where they sit today technologically and where they need to be means investment platforms are likely to be around in their current form for many years to come .
Lack of motivation Does the industry really want to invest a significant sum of money in changing a system that suits it just the way it is ? This brings me on to the point of the story . At the risk of invoking Henry Ford ’ s comment about “ faster horses ”, do we really need anything else from the investment services we use that isn ’ t already available in the market ? The UK ’ s investment platform industry has served a diverse range of market segments over the past 25 years and continues to grow , albeit more slowly than it did during the pandemic , when opening a new investment account was highly infectious . We now have a huge selection of options :
· Good old-fashioned DIY platforms ( Hargreaves Lansdown , interactive
investor and AJ Bell )
· Cheap and cheerful investment services ( iWeb and Halifax )
· Robo-advisers for investors who need guidance ( Nutmeg and
Moneyfarm )
· App-based investment services for new investors ( Dodl and Moneybox )
· Pension aggregators to help consolidate your retirement savings
( PensionBee )
So , is it fair or even necessary to demand we tear down the platform industry for relatively small service and cost efficiencies ? Does the number of players in the market also serve to keep costs low through competitive forces ? If you really want a lower-cost service than you already have , these are available if you want to compromise on some of the features you may be paying for , but not even using .
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