Insider - February 2023

As we start to pick up the slightest whiff of spring and we settle into that feeling that comes with lighter days, the teams across our business have been quietly forging ahead with a number of different initiatives. I am very pleased to share news of a few of these in this month’s update.

V2.0 reporting

I am pleased to inform you that we recently released new reports into our V2.0 reporting suite. All the reports available have been designed in a user-friendly, easy to read format.

Our new cash statement report shows all cash transactions which have taken place within your clients’ Funds & Shares Service account. All transactions are shown in date order, with a running balance also provided.

Our new transaction history report shows all the investment transactions which have taken place within your clients’ Funds & Shares Service account. Again, all transactions are shown in date order.

You can run these new reports individually or combine either or both with other reports using the report builder tool.

Online document store now added to the mobile app

We recently made an upgrade to our mobile app by adding an online documents section. This upgrade means that your clients can now view all their online documents, such as quarterly valuations and reports, annual tax packs and SIPP annual statements, straight from the app at their convenience.

Our client mobile app provides your clients with a range of information about their accounts and can be downloaded from the Apple or Android app stores.

AJ Bell Investments – market outlook

We continue to see increased interest in the MPS and fund solutions delivered by Kevin Doran and his Investments Team. I appreciate that not all of you will utilise multi asset solutions within your business, but for those of you that do they may be worth a look.

The increased interest has been driven by strong investment performance, with all of AJ Bell's multi-asset growth funds delivering top quartile returns versus their Investment Association sector average over the last one and three years.

In this quarter’s update from the team, you will discover how recent conditions have affected performance across the range of AJ Bell Funds and the various portfolios that make up our Managed Portfolio Service (MPS).

The value of investments and the income from them can go down as well as up and your client may not get back their original investment.

Consumer Duty

As the FCA’s deadlines draw ever nearer, in the near future we will be sharing news about our progress on implementing the Consumer Duty and confirm some of the resources that will be available to support you and your clients.

To help us ensure that we will be best placed to give you what you need, let us know which of the following content would be of interest (select all that apply):

Tax Year End deadlines

We know how busy you are likely to be at tax year end, and I’m sure you’ll appreciate the same is true for us. To make sure everything runs smoothly for all concerned, we’d really appreciate it if you could build in as much time as possible for any work that you need us to complete in the run-up to 5 April 2023.

We’ve got all the information you need in one place, and you can find detailed information about our deadlines for pension payments, transfers and tax year end payments here.

As usual, our Adviser Support Team will be extending its opening hours in the run-up to 5 April. Staff will be available between 8am and 7pm from Monday 3 April to Thursday 6 April 2023. You can call them on 0345 83 99 060 or email enquiry@investcentre.co.uk.

Don’t miss out…

To ensure you’re well informed on some of the key issues that you are likely to face in 2023, we are back ‘On the Road’, with a spring tour across the UK. We’ve shared our experts’ insights across cities from Edinburgh to London but there are more events still to come with a few seats left on the following dates and venues.

Register to join us, and you’ll get to hear from our investment experts talking about the potential outlook for markets over the coming months. A member of our Technical Team will be there too, discussing the Government’s latest thinking on pensions.

We will also be joined by the Business Development Manager for each area, who will bring you up to speed on the latest platform developments. Two hours of structured CPD will be available at the following venues:

Goodbye Internet Explorer

Last year we announced that we were no longer supporting the Internet Explorer browser on our website following Microsoft’s decision to stop providing its browser with new updates.

Following this announcement Microsoft are now retiring the Internet Explorer browser, therefore continuing to use IE will leave your firm more open to cyber and fraud threats.

We strongly recommend that you to switch to using Microsoft Edge, Chrome, Firefox or Safari to ensure you are better protected against both phishing and malware attacks.

If you have any queries about this, please email us at enquiry@investcentre.co.uk or contact our Adviser Support Team on 0345 83 99 060.