8/7/2019 True Potential - Ian McKenna on Wrap

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When we created our investment platform wewanted to offer something completely different,innovative and at the forefront of technology.

An excellent way to inform, create and buildwealth for your clients.

Our process is seamlessly linked, so with asingle data input you can analyse, plan,transact and monitor business. Using unique

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8/7/2019 True Potential - Ian McKenna on Wrap

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True Potential. Platform & Investment Strategies.

NEWS

TECHNOLOGY

Ian McKenna

moneymarketing.co.uk • 18 March 201144

A True WrapC an a wrap platform replace the need for

an adviser to have their own dedicatedclient management system? This has been

one of the most hotly debated discussions in theplatform market for many years.

I have always been very much in the no camp.Each perform important distinct functions forthe adviser and while, in theory, a platform could

build all the functionality a client managementsystem might offer, in practice, what are thechances that, say, building additional functionalityto support regulatory reporting for protectionbusiness after the European Court ruling is evergoing to feature that high up a platform provider’sdevelopment plans?

However, what happens when you take one of the best client management systems in the marketand then they bolt on their own platform?A couple of weeks ago, I got to nd out whenI was given an exclusive look at the new TruePotential wrap. Regular readers will be awarethat the software and support services companyachieved the highest score of the participating

suppliers in our recent Adviser Softwarebenchmarking study, and the highest numberof ve-star ratings when we measured theunderlying elements of such systems.

True Potential already has some level of integration with a number of platforms, includingAscentric, Axa Elevate, Cofunds, Funds Network,Novia, Nucleus, Praemium, Parmenion, Skandia,Standard Life Fund Zone and Wrap, Sterling andTransact particularly on valuations. It has nowpartnered with SEI, whose technology sitsbehind a number of other bespoke distributorplatforms such as Bestinvest and Cavanagh.The new service delivers a far deeper integrationthan currently offered by True Potential with anyof the above.

A key part of the platform strategy is to givethe advisers a range of self-balancing funds whichthey can implement for customers to reduce thecost of managing client’s portfolios, while at thesame time giving IFAs the option of using a widerange of investment vehicles including funds,ETFs and stock and shares if they want to providea bespoke service.

As the system is fully integrated, alldocuments created as part of the process, forexample, summary of investment objectives, assetselection process, evidence of research, a recordof all the areas explored with the client andwhat they have invested in are documented in aconcise fashion, are then repopulated back to the

True Potential system for retention for regulatory,compliance, treating customers fairly andother processes.

Having agreed the client objective, investmentstrategy and wrappers selected, an advisercan then agree fees with the client for initial,recurring, any switch fees and one off charges.These can accommodate different charging

structures for different products.All the information captured that is needed

for account establishment is automaticallypopulated to an application summary, whichis also validated for any missing information.This includes a summary of client information,details of all accounts to be opened, investmentsto be purchased, as well as charges and fees.The adviser con rms anti-money launderingevidence using True Potential’s integration

with the adviser’s mobile phone to capturecopy documents. These are retained as scanneddocuments within the client management system.

All mandatory documents such as theKFD, terms and conditions and application aredynamically generated. The client clicks to agreethe client agreement and moves to paymentoptions. These can cater for debit card, banktransfer and cheque. If paying by cheque, it givesdetails of who to pay the cheque to and generatesa covering letter to send it to SEI.

Having made the payment, the systemcreates all the necessary documentationincluding the suitability letter and submits alldocuments electronically to SEI using XML toopen an account and purchase the investmentselectronically, as well as creating the recordselectronically for the adviser in the True Potentialclient management system.

A core part of the True Potential propositionis that each individual client is given their ownpersonal website, re ecting the individual adviser

rm’s own brand. All the documents are placedwithin that individual client’s website so theycan access them at will from within the clientdocuments folder that is provided.

This also gives the client access to their

online aggregation and valuation service, whichwill include all the platform assets, as well asreal-time valuations for individual policies theyhold with the adviser with a full range of lifeand pension providers. They can also access andchange their fact- nd, send secure messages andview performance history.

This is all taking the level of integrationbetween adviser systems and the wrap platformway beyond anything else I have seen to date.While already leading edge, if the companywere to add some pension-switching comparisonservices, I could see enormous potential foraggregating existing assets and achieving majorsavings for clients.

At 40 basis points, this may not be thecheapest-priced platform, the improvementsto operational ef ciency, achieved by the tightintegration between the platform and the clientmanagement system, should translate to major forsavings clients after the RDR. This could meanthat clients who would otherwise be unpro tablecan be retained.

The outcome on this union may result in asigni cant change in the direction of the wholeplatform market. It shows what can really beachieved by making the platform and clientsystem really work together.

This is exactly the sort of execution I havelong believed is the best way forward for advisersand the platform community.

It also demonstrates what Standard Life canachieve with their integration with Focus and thepotential for Sesame One, paired with the rightclient management system. I have not yet hadthe chance to produce a full benchmark on TruePotential wrap but instinctively I believe it mayjust have set the new standard to aspire to.

Ian McKenna is director of the Finance &Technology Research Centre organisationlooking to prepare for the challenges of thepost-RDR market.

‘This is all taking the

level of integrationbetween advisersystems and thewrap platform waybeyond anything elseI have seen to date.’