So this is the second in our series of RDR blogs. The idea is that we’ll apply project methodology to RDR as a whole. We’re aiming to show that even the very biggest change programmes needn’t be that scary if you a) have the right team in place and b) take a structured approach.

We’ve been part of large organisations and we know that mandatory change programmes are treated quite differently to proposition developments. The former is treated a bit like writing thank-you cards after Christmas when you’re a kid. It’s a bit of a bore, and tends to get solid, dependable people put on it. Propositional development is more fun, sparky, catches the attention of the front of house guys and gets the thinkers put on it.

But here’s a thought. What if you didn’t treat RDR as a mandatory change programme, but instead treated it as an amazing omnibus programme for proposition development? A chance to restructure your product set for a new world, with the ability to tinker with almost every part of everything in your control. Would that make you think of it differently? Put different people on it?

For us, RDR is full of opportunity for providers to make a tangible difference to their propositions. One key way to train our minds to think more positively about it is to take a bit of basic project methodology for proposition development – the ‘opportunity statement’, often referred to as ‘the size of the prize’. This is the part in Dragons’ Den where entrepreneurs tell the Dragons that £4.3bn is spent on xyz products annually, and if we get just 1.5% of that market we’ll all be able to move to a non-extradition country and spend the rest of our natural lives engaged in morally flexible activities.

That isn’t the right way to do it, but there is virtue in looking at your key competitors, thinking of where they have an edge over you, identifying their inflows and AUA and working out what you could do if you were able to address some of those issues. Here are a couple of ideas:

1. Wraps – fund supermarkets pick up high inflows because they are simple to use and make it simple for investors to understand. What % of existing supermarket flows might you be able to hijack if you took the chance to simplify your disclosure and marketing material as part of your RDR programme? The supermarkets have a lot to do anyway – maybe you can steal a march on them.
2. Fund supermarkets – the wraps tend to gain high market share with advisers who have embraced RDR (or its principles) early. The best of them operate with absolute clarity and spend considerable effort implementing and onboarding adviser firms; even coaching them sometimes how to present an unbundled proposition. Could you do the same? Up to 25% of advisers are planning to review their platform choices this year – could you attract some existing AUA away from the wraps and develop a deeper relationship with some advisers as a result of moving to transparency? What would it take in the way you’re refreshing your systems to provide the building blocks for that?

To that we’d add the fact that RDR will likely shake out some under-par competitors, so there may be a rising tide that will lift your boat – as long as you do a good job.

So a formula might look like this:

Existing AUA / inflows

minus

market exits from advisers quitting the industry

plus

additional inflows/AUA from failing providers

plus

new flow from untapped advisers

plus

new flow from improved competitive position

equals

opportunity

Would that be enough to get your organisation more excited about the RDR opportunity? We think it should.

Next time, we’ll build on this and look at making the case for investment in the RDR opportunity. In the meantime, try not to get too excited…

Platform People provides specialist recruitment and consultancy services to blue chip financial services organisations that build and provide Investment Platforms to the financial services sector.

Platform People Blaze a Trail in Business Professionalism

Platform People are delighted to announce that they have been awarded both the Investors in People Gold Standard and ISO 9001, the first company in the UK ever to earn both at their first assessment and within a record-breaking four month period.

Platform People, a recruitment & business consultancy firm that specialises in working with the Investment Platform market has achieved IIP Gold & ISO 9001 at first assessment and from start to finish in only four months – an achievement that has never been done before.

Chris Hitchens, Managing Director at Platform People commented on receiving the awards; “We were told it would be virtually impossible to get both IIP and ISO at the same time, never mind IIP Gold status, but as I always say if you’re going to go for something you go for the top. While the business was already running at this level, gaining both the IIP Gold and ISO 9001 show our peers and the marketplace that we are an exemplary business to work with, and as a business consultancy firm we wouldn’t be very effective if we didn’t show that our own house was in order first, would we?”

Being awarded IIP Gold status represents achievement of world-class best practise. It shows a truly cutting-edge organisation operating at the very highest levels of people management practice.

John Martin, Business Support Adviser at idg the Investors in People Centre for the North of England said “This is a fantastic achievement for Platform People and I would like to congratulate the team there on their commitment to continuous improvement. As the Investors in People Centre for the North of England, idg is committed to working with organisations to help them improve, develop and grow and by offering a flexible, practical and easy to use framework, Investors in People is designed to help organisations and their people enhance performance and meet goals. By achieving Gold recognition especially at their first assessment, Platform People are certainly working to do this.”

Hitchens continued; “I am really proud of everyone at Platform People for all the hard work they have contributed to earning these awards. As a fairly new business it was important for us to get our structure and team right at the beginning and I think we can say we have definitely done this.”

Only 1% of Investors in People organisations nationally achieve Gold recognition and as at 31 March 2011 there were approx. 293 Gold recognised organisations nationally.

Notes to editors:

1. Established in 2010, Platform People is a business with a single primary objective but with two distinct facets that work in harmony to achieve the primary objective, which is to help and support the UK Investment Platform industry to allow them to take to market and support the best services available. To deliver this primary objective Platform People have approached the challenge from to very distinct but complimentary sides, they provide expert business consultancy services to the platform providers. Placing the right consultant; for the right challenge; at exactly the right point in the platforms life-cycle. They also provide expert, high-end recruitment services tailor-made for the platforms industry. Knowing who the right people are; how to get these people and matching them with the perfect role in this highly specialised field.
2. Investors-in-People is a people management standard that was launched in 1991. There are four different levels achievable – Gold, silver, bronze and standard. Being an Investor in People demonstrates a commitment to the development and success of the people in the business and a desire for the business and its people to improve and grow. http://www.investorsinpeople.co.uk
3. ISO 9001 is a quality management standard which is awarded by The British Assessment Bureau. It helps organisations be more structured and organised. Many UK companies require providers to be ISO 9001 certified to allow them to tender for business or achieve preferred supplier status. http://www.british-assessment.co.uk

For media queries contact:

Tess Joyce

The Hepburn Consultancy

Media relations, marketing and events

Mob: 07912 353914

Email: tessjoyce@thehepburnconsultancy.co.uk

Platform People provides specialist recruitment and consultancy services to blue chip financial services organisations that build and provide Investment Platforms to the financial services sector.

So there have been some interesting platform stories in the trade press to start off 2012. We are definitely starting to see the temperature start to rise as we head towards RDR!

We were really interested in a couple of stories from Cofunds – they’ve called for more clarity on the treatment of legacy assets for re-registration and also expressed a hope that the industry doesn’t get hung up on the labels ‘restricted’ or ‘independent’.

Skandia started the year with some interesting predictions – mainly that the number of platforms around serving IFAs would reduce to 10 and the average price would reduce by half to about 0.25%. There’s also an interesting piece on their RDR plans here.

Our take on these things is always filtered through our specialist view, which is running and resourcing large, complex change programmes. And it strikes us that really, both of these are tech stories.

Let’s explain. The issue with re-registration is that the FSA have said that re-reg does not have to be an advised event. That means that in-built trail commission can continue to be paid after a re-registration event. But new units or shares in the same fund or OEIC bought on an advised basis can’t pay out that commission; it all has to be done on adviser charging. Cofunds’ point is that it’s extremely difficult to keep proper records so that you can ‘split’ an existing holding into parts that generate trail and parts that don’t. You’d also need new business rules around that for which holdings you sell first to generate income or pay charges, for example.

Our thing is – this shouldn’t be impossible to do. We understand that providers have a huge amount on their plates and this is an extra headache they don’t need. As Stephen Mohan points out in the piece, the ISO messaging standards the providers have developed don’t take account of it. What we take from this is that providers with a forward looking, well-run and disciplined change and technology function will be able to flex to deal with these requirements. Providers without that solid foundation will struggle, to their commercial detriment.

That kind of leads us to the Skandia story. Will there only be 10 platforms left in a few years? We wouldn’t feel confident in making that prediction, but we do think it’s inevitable that we’ll see some consolidation in the sector over the coming months Some of that will be driven by competitive pressure, but we think the greater driver will be the demands of technology development of exactly the kind described by Stephen Mohan above.

Our prediction is that we’ll see the smarter, more able providers start to compete and differentiate on operational and technological excellence. In effect they’ll use RDR as a springboard for making the kind of improvements that genuinely create efficiencies for IFAs, and valued outcomes for consumers, which sounds pretty good to us.

Platform People provides specialist recruitment and consultancy services to blue chip financial services organisations that build and provide Investment Platforms to the financial services sector.

Hello and a very Happy New Year from all of us at Platform People. In common with many of you, we’ve spent the break with our families and friends and remembering why it is we come to work. But in the times in between, we’ve been thinking about the year ahead. It’s going to be a momentous one.

For anyone working in platforms, 2012 is all about RDR. No surprises there. But, after scouting around the trade press, blogs and the Twitterverse, we can’t help feeling a bit flat. It strikes us that our industry has adopted a bit of a defensive stance (that’s what we call an ‘understatement’ round here, by the way).

If we’re not careful, as an industry we’re going to waste a tremendous opportunity to change the game forever, for the better. Most companies we speak to are just gearing up to comply with the minimum possible. That’s a shame. We should be embracing this once in a generation chance.

We’ll say it again, a different way. You should be excited about RDR. We are. We can’t wait.

So what’s stopping companies – whether providers or advisers – embracing the opportunity and devouring it as voraciously as we did our Christmas dinner (minus the bloated feeling and lethargy)? And is it possible to change our view, our mindset, our attitude this close to the deadline?

You bet it is. What’s happened is that in the logjam of lobbying, self-interested posturing and fear of change, we’ve lost sight of the basic disciplines of working in a changing market.

We need to stop. Get a grip. Ask some basic questions. Here are 7 questions we thought of –

1. Martin Luther King started with a dream, not a plan. He inspired quite a few people. Do you have a dream and a plan to inspire your people this year?
2. You know your business ambition. But do you know why?
3. How will you use RDR as a springboard to achieving it?
4. Who’s driving your RDR programme? Business Prevention Units or an innovator in the business?
5. How’s your RDR business case looking? Have you got one? What about post-RDR?
6. Are your customers and suppliers engaged?
7. Have you got the skill, talent and scale in your organisation to deliver something memorable?

Like most things, it comes down to a firm grasp of the basics.

We have no doubt that you’ll be able to find plenty of negative stuff to read about RDR over the next 12 months. And if you want to sit around feeling sorry for yourself and yearning for the past, that’s up to you. You’d better hope your competitors are doing the same. If any of them are planning to make a step change in their business and do more than the minimum, you’ll be running to catch up.

But if you fancy a different take on RDR, make sure to check back here. At Platform People we’re pretty good at running change programmes and embracing change as a positive. So every few weeks we’ll write about what you should be thinking and doing as we hurtle headlong towards 31 December. You’ll see us using project methodology to help structure thinking. You’ll see us linking change to business outcomes. And you’ll see us confronting the cost and resource challenges a massive change like this inevitably brings.

So bookmark this page, strap in and get ready. It’s going to be a hell of a ride.

Platform People provides specialist recruitment and consultancy services to blue chip financial services organisations that build and provide Investment Platforms to the financial services sector.

In the inspiring setting of the London Eye, and with a glass or two of wine, Platform People are hosting an evening bringing together leading thinkers and influencers within the Platform industry with a view to discussing some of the challenges facing them in 2012.

Chris Hitchens, MD of Platform People said:

“Getting the platform industry ready for RDR and its impact at the end of 2012 is a challenge for everyone involved. Getting key people together to have a chat about what’s ahead is vital, and if we can help to do this, in a relaxed and informal manner that’s great. Platform People is all about getting the platform industry in as tip top shape as it can be and if we can act as a catalyst to get industry wide discussion going then this can only be a benefit for those all involved.”

Platform People provides specialist recruitment and consultancy services to blue chip financial services organisations that build and provide Investment Platforms to the financial services sector.

Here at Platform People we like to keep the an eye on the pulse of our industry. This means that we need to know exactly what’s going on so we can provide our clients with our advice on growing trends.

We’ve love to hear your thoughts on certain topics, so please feel free to comment and let us know what you think.

Here are some articles that have caught our eye recently:

- L&G appoints ex-Standard Life, Allison Crawford as D2C director as the provider looks to grow business ahead of RDR.

- Vestra Wealth has signed its move of £600m assets from Fidelity FundsNetwork to Cofunds. Currently manages £2.4bn of total assets.

- Platform peers have defended Hargreaves flat fee tracker plans stating the move is ‘one of commercial necessity’.

- Aegon reaffirms commitment to Scottish operations, stating that speculation to exit was unfounded. Acknowledges rebuild of reputation.

- Former head of Aviva Wrap, Nic Burton, has left the business and is retraining as a teacher. Paula Whitwell has filled his role.

- FSA has hired accountancy firm Deloitte to quiz platforms on the proposed ban of fund manager and cash rebates.

Platform People provides specialist recruitment and consultancy services to blue chip financial services organisations that build and provide Investment Platforms to the financial services sector.

Platform People will be sponsoring the award for ‘Best Platform Software Provider’ at the Aberdeen UK Platform Awards to be held tonight, 29th September, at the Marriott Grosvenor Square Hotel in London. Chris Hitchens and Kevin Russell will be attending from Platform People, to present the award.

The Platform Awards provide an opportunity for everyone involved to get together and celebrate success in the industry. All the platform providers will be there, hoping to win a prestigious award. In addition to the award that we are sponsoring, other awards include recognising success in adviser firms, as they continue to embrace platforms to ensure RDR readiness for 2013, as well as for platform administration and of course, Platform of the Year. We would like to wish all the nominees the best of luck in their categories and look forward to presenting the winner with their prize tonight.

Platform People provides specialist recruitment and consultancy services to blue chip financial services organisations that build and provide Investment Platforms to the financial services sector.

After more than a year with our old site, we thought it was time to refresh our website. We have moved to WordPress and have gone for a much brighter feel with new graphics and photography of our directors.

The new website still contains some of the functionality of the old site, such as the job search but we’ve also added biographies of our directors, Chris Hitchens and Kevin Russell. We updated our image and branding and there is a lot more information about who we are and what we do as a Platform Delivery Business.

We’re really pleased with the results, and will be blogging regularly here from now on. Feel free to have a browse around the site. We would, of course, love to hear your comments about our site’s new look – why not drop us a line in the Contact Us page or send us a message on Twitter or Linked In….

Platform People provides specialist recruitment and consultancy services to blue chip financial services organisations that build and provide Investment Platforms to the financial services sector.