2010 press releases

85% of financial advisers are actively increasing the percentage of income they receive through fees, with customers preferring to pay for these fees by having money deducted from their products rather than paying the fees directly.

New consumer research by Skandia shows that 71% of investors are able to understand how annual platform charges and fund group rebates work when explained to them in jargon free customer literature. 

New research from Skandia reveals that only 6% of people considering a new investment would opt for a risk score of 8 or 9 out of 10. Yet this is in stark contrast to the reality that £149 billion, or 81% of all assets invested are balanced managed pension funds, is invested in products exhibiting these risk levels.

The new pension reforms proposed by HMRC will potentially have a negative impact on the amount of tax free cash some people can take from their pension unless further protection is provided, says Skandia.

Skandia UK, part of the wealth management business of Old Mutual plc, welcomes today’s clarification by the UK FSA, that platform operators can continue to receive payments from fund managers after 1 Jan 2013.

Skandia today launches the industry’s first platform based risk-targeted protected fund. The Skandia Shield Fund will offer downside protection of 80% of the highest ever share price of the fund and offers a number of unique features compared to other protected funds available:

Skandia today confirms that it has added the Skandia Global Emerging Markets fund to its Signature range of single strategy funds. The addition of this fund completes the range which launched earlier this year and means that there are now 20 funds in 10 asset classes to choose from in the Signature proposition.

A new survey of around 1,300 financial advisers, has found that collective investments and ISA products dominate sales in today's platform market, but both pensions and bonds have significant potential for growth in the future. These findings suggest that advisers are collectively moving towards using platforms in a bid to consolidate their customer's investments into one single place.

Financial advisers must consider the likelihood and impact of platform exit strategies on their customers when carrying out due diligence on platforms, warns Skandia.  Acquisitions, consolidation, closures and stock market listings are all highly likely to affect smaller platform operators over the next few years and financial advisers must consider these possibilities and what impact they would have on clients when recommending a platform to them.

Skandia UK today reports an increase in Net Client Cash Flow of 138% to £1.9 billion for the first nine months of 2010, driven by huge demand for its Skandia Investment Solutions platform. Funds Under Management have increased by 13% since the beginning of the year to £31.9 billion, reflecting both the positive NCCF and growth in stock markets.