Insider - August 2023

Understanding the Consumer Duty

As you’ll no doubt be aware, the FCA’s Consumer Duty deadline passed at the end of July. To help you stay on top of the issues it raises, we’re continuing to update our Consumer Duty hub, which now includes some brilliant new insights based on research we recently carried out with leading behavioral economics expert, Professor Richard Whittle.

The outcome of our work on customer understanding features some very useful findings about the way customers engage with their investments, and how this can be supported over time. You can read more about it in our report on the 3Rs of Understanding.

New V2.0 dealing functionality – one-off investment into models

We recently released new dealing functionality in our V2.0 website which allows you to make a one-off investment using your clients’ model portfolio asset allocation.

You can use the tool across all your clients’ Funds & Shares Service accounts, and it serves as a simple way to phase clients into the market or invest new contributions and subscriptions without rebalancing. It also helps to avoid any unnecessary friction when adding money to your clients’ portfolios.

Using the tool is easy – just make sure your client is linked to their model portfolio, then:

• select your client in the V2.0 area of our site;
• press the ‘investments’ tab and then ‘make a one-off investment into this model’;
• enter your deal amount, review the pre-populated orders; and
• submit your deals free of any dealing charge.

This functionality is a great addition to our existing dealing tools. Before using the tool for the first time, please read our dealing tool user guide and also watch the video guide: both will help you understand how it works.

Multi-Asset Seminar 2023 – save the date!

Our popular multi-asset investment seminar is making a comeback later this year, with live events in Manchester on 4 October and London on 5 October, plus a webinar for anyone who can’t make it in person. Given that the political landscape seems to be in constant turmoil these days, it seems appropriate that our theme this year will be how multi-asset managers deal with political change.

As well as hosting talks from our own in-house experts, we’re pleased to be welcoming speakers from six leading multi-asset fund managers, including M&G, Fidelity and LGIM. You’ll also get to hear from our special guest, former Shadow Cabinet MP Luciana Berger, who’ll be sharing her insights on the impact of climate change policies on investment, and exploring the possible impact should we see a change in government.

The event qualifies as three hours of CPD time and should make for a fascinating day. If you’d like to find out more or register for a place, you can do so here.

LTA guide of a lifetime

Many of you will have seen our technical guru, Lisa Webster, presenting at one of our live events over the years. She’s rightly earned a great reputation for the depth of her expertise, and I’m pleased to say she can now share even more of that knowledge with you in the form of her new Lifetime Allowance guide.

Beginning with some background information on the LTA and how it came about back in 2006, the guide quickly brings you right up to date by examining the changes announced in this year’s Spring Budget.

Covering everything from Benefit Crystallisation Events and Pension Commencement Lump Sums, to enhanced protection, late applications and enhancement factors, this thorough guide to the Lifetime Allowance is an invaluable tool for any adviser. You can download it from our website now.

Well done Customer Services Team!

It’s great to see AJ Bell Investcentre growing every year, but when any company gets busier, there’s always a danger that standards will slip. We’re very mindful of this and have put various measures in place to ensure we keep delivering the same efficient, responsive service you have been accustomed to.

I’m very pleased to say that this work is clearly paying off, because our Customer Service Team’s latest data shows they are still consistently meeting their agreed service levels, despite receiving over a million calls and emails in the last 12 months!

These efforts won’t stop, and we’ll continue to prioritise resourcing the various teams to ensure they are best placed to provide timely and accurate responses to you and your clients.

Succession planning hub

If you run your own financial advice business, at some point you could be excused for starting to think about winding down a little. Before that day comes, it makes sense to have a well-thought-out succession plan in place.

If any of this is starting to occupy your mind, you may be interested in reading more of the brilliant resources we have pulled together in conjunction with The Exit Partnership, Vertus Capital and our own in-house experts. Topics covered range from why and how you might choose to sell your business, to ensuring a smooth transition to new ownership that complies with all the relevant regulations.

New third-party MPS providers

The range of options available within our third-party DFM service continues to grow. As of today, you and your clients will be able to access Managed Portfolio Services from IBOSS and, very soon, from Evelyn Partners and PortfolioMetrix too.

Third-party MPS options are available via our Retirement Investment Account, SIPP, ISA and General Investment Account. We don’t charge an explicit fee for the service itself; instead, your clients just pay the existing platform charge and the charge levied by the external DFM.

For more details on our third-party MPS providers, just visit the website or get in touch with your BDM Team by phone or email if you have any specific questions.

AJ Bell Investment Awards 2023

The AJ Bell Investment Awards was set up many years back to recognise and reward the best funds, trusts and listed companies, as judged by users of our platform.

There are thousands of funds, trusts and stocks available to choose from, so we asked our expert panel of investment professionals to whittle the choice down to just six finalists in each of the available categories. Picking the overall winner for each category in 2023 will be down to you.

As a ‘thank you’ for casting your vote, our colleagues at AJ Bell Media will give you the chance to win a £300 restaurant voucher for London’s Pollen Street Social (T&Cs apply) - voting closes 31 August so please get involved.