UK-based investment platform provider AJ Bell is planning to introduce two products next year.
At its Investival conference on 14 November 2019 the firm said it is working on a Retirement Investment Account (RIA) and on third-party DFM models, available from early 2020 on its platform.
The RIA is designed for advisers whose clients have around £250,000 or less in their pensions.
It will cost 0.25% a year for those with assets up to £500,000 ($647,840, €585,900) and 0.20% a year for assets over £500,000, AJ Bell said.
The account will offer the main features of the AJ Bell Investcentre platform, including investment analysis, bulk dealing, regular investments, cash management and capital gains reporting.
Regulation and needs take centre stage
On the other hand, the third-party DFM models will start with a small panel of four to five partners, but more could be added over time, depending on demand, AJ Bell told International Adviser.
The service will allow financial advisers to link clients to models of their choice, which will also be made available through the RIA as well as the firm’s existing Isa, Sipp and dealing accounts.
The firm said cost will be competitive, but the actual sum or percentage was not disclosed.
Andy Bell, chief executive of AJ Bell, said: “We have seen demand from advisers for a low-cost platform pension with an ‘all-in’ pricing structure and streamlined investment range to suit a particular segment of clients.
“The new Retirement Investment Account has been designed to meet that demand and sit alongside our Sipp to enable advisers to meet a broader range of client needs.
“Both Mifid and Prod have made it clearer than ever that advisers need to be recommending products that are demonstrably suitable for client needs and, in that context, it is difficult to justify placing clients with relatively simple needs in a more complex or expensive product.”
