Official Defaqto Guide to Discretionary Management Services
Independent financial research company Defaqto has published a free guide to discretionary management for the intermediary market entitled 'Letting go'.
As advisers continue to look at their business strategies in the run up to implementation of Retail Distribution Review policy at the end of 2012, it is clear that outsourcing the management of the client's investments is becoming a solution of choice for many advisers.
All but lost to the retail market for the best part of the last decade, discretionary management has once again become a real option. This is clearly a growing area, and Defaqto's guide is designed to help advisers in their due diligence of what may be an unfamiliar market.
Author of the guide Fraser Donaldson and Insight Analyst - Funds said: "With few exceptions, discretionary managers deserted the independent adviser market at the turn of the century, preferring to target the more affluent client and encouraging them to become 'private clients' of the firms they work for.
"These same discretionary managers have noticed the growth in multi-manager, as well as the increasing number of advisers outsourcing their investment process in this way, with the result that they are now targeting the retail investment market again. Recent research in to platform users for instance showed that nearly 20% of those surveyed used a discretionary manager."
Mr Donaldson continued: "The SIPP market has taken note of this possible solution, and now more than three quarters of pure SIPPs facilitate access to a discretionary manager, with more than 35% offering a panel of preferred services. Many discretionary managers now have dedicated resource for dealing with the IFA market and are more than happy to discuss their services. Our research indicates that interest in this market will continue to grow."
Areas covered by the guide include:
Why use a discretionary manager?
The different types of discretionary service
The different levels of service available
What to consider when undertaking due diligence
An overview of a selection of IFA friendly discretionary services currently in the market
The discretionary management guide can be downloaded free from Defaqto Adviser
