The move brings the number of discretionary manages available to investors to six.
Prudential said various administrative features had also been added to the discretionary offering which it believed set its service apart from competitors – including the removal of what is termed “negative interest” charges.
Until now the Portfolio Account, which was launched in 2008, offered only one discretionary manager, which was Williams de Broe.
Richard Leeson, head of UK business development for Dublin-based Prudential International, said though his company was probably the last offshore bond provider to complete its discretionary manager offering, a great deal of consideration had gone into completing the range and its functionality.
“With the managers we have added I think we now offer at least 90% of the market in terms of the discretionaries advisers demand. Coupled with the carefully considered administrative improvements, we have a very comprehensive and attractive proposition.”
The five new managers are Quilter, Brewin Dolphin, Rensburg Sheppards, Brooks Macdonald Gayer and Deutsche Tilney Private Wealth Management.
The improved administrative capability includes automated, rather than manual, administration, which will, according to Leeson, significantly cut the chance of an error being made, while also being quicker.
He said clients were also given the choice of dividing their investment between the six managers – a function he explained few competitors offered, and were also given the choice of placing some of their investment outside of the discretionary, for instance in cash.
Negative interest
Prudential International has also scrapped negative interest charges, which occur when a discretionary manager does not pay on time the quarterly fee from the client’s investment pot to the bond provider, leading to an interest charge from the provider to the client which is taken from the invested assets.
Leeson said some companies solve this problem by insisting investors hold a small portion of their money on cash deposit to ensure fees and any negative interest are met.
However, Leeson said: “There is a third way of doing this – don’t charge negative interest. Adviser reaction to this has already been very positive. Though it may result in a small cost to us, we think we will more than make up for it in market share.”
He also highlighted the RDR benefits of offering discretionary managers to high net worth clients: “This means advisers themselves do not have to do the investment management and can stick to their core competencies.”
