Money Marketing (08/02/2019) – Moving clients out of unsuitable investments can be a valuable service, but are the costs and regulatory barriers proving too high?

Switching a client’s funds takes time and, just as importantly, money. Deciding whether to go ahead with replacement investment business can be a lengthy and challenging process.

Money Marketing asked advisers to share their experiences of how they weighed up whether a client’s existing investments were worth moving when they first stepped through the door.

When a retired civil servant approached IFS Wealth & Pensions’ Alan Chan, the client had been underwhelmed by the lack of communication from her existing adviser.

Initial discussions between Chan and the new client quickly revealed that she had always wanted to invest ethically but was never made aware she could, despite the fact it was very important to her.

Chan says: “We investigated her existing platform, which was not one that we used on a regular basis, and it had a sufficiently large fund range, particularly for ethical selections.

“We recommended that the client stay with the existing platform provider and simply conduct an internal fund switch instead to an ethical portfolio that we built for her to match her risk profile.

“We could then continue to provide her with ongoing advice using that platform. We felt that there was no financial benefit for the client to change providers.”

Full article link: https://www.moneymarketing.co.uk/analysis/to-move-or-not-to-move-price-of-switching-funds/