Platform & Structured Products Survey Results

StructuredProductReview.com is a dedicated research service conceived, created, developed and maintained to help Professional Advisers engage with the structured product sector and to aid in the identification of providers and products that may be suitable for their clients.

As at October 2014, in excess of 10,000 individuals are registered users of the site, and in a recent survey of SPR users, 86% of the adviser and paraplanner respondents stated that the site is an essential research tool, with 78% stating that it is their primary structured product research aid. It was also gratifying for the team to know that 93% of the respondents would recommend StructuredProductReview.com to fellow adviser colleagues.

The Platform & Structured Products Survey Results are based on 205 responses. According to a survey carried out by StructuredProductReview.com, 70% of advisers said it would or may improve their service proposition if structured products were available on their platform of choice. Over half of the 205 advisers surveyed said that they would or may use structured products more if they were available on their preferred platform.

1) Which platforms are you using?

Unsurprisingly, platform use of the advisers surveyed focused around the four big supermarkets. 49.2% use Cofunds; 49.7% use Skandia; 44.2% use Fidelity Funds Network; 31.5% use Standard Life. Only 42% of advisers said that structured products were available on their platform of choice, while 36% said they were not. This shows that platforms have some way to go in making structured products available.

Most popular platforms:

Other Platforms used by respondents

2) How often do you use structured products in client portfolios?

3) Are structured products available on your platform(s) of choice?

4) Would you use (more) structured products if they were available on your platform(s) of choice?

Comments:

"Not available on all of the platforms that we use""If there were more platforms offering structured products"

5) Do you think having structured products on your platform of choice would improve your service proposition?

Comments:

"Without doubt""This would allow a more streamlined and easier ongoing proposition"

Additional Comments

"Transact are the easiest to work with"

"Available on platform but cost of holding is prohibitive"

"Concerned about platform charges when holding a structured product over a term of say 6 years. Does the platform add in value for the client given that the product will most likely be unchanged over the term"

"Generally use structured deposits rather than structured investments. If we use a platform for these we would need to be assured that the clients would still benefit from the deposit protection scheme of £85k per individual."

"Great website - really clear and easy to read"

"Although we rarely use structured products we feel that we should be aware of what is available"

"Most of our new business currently goes on the Transact platform"

"Structured Products are a good diversifier in a clients portfolio and especially in the current climate. Being able to purchase these through a Platform would enhance their desirability"

"Fabulous website by the way and really easy to use"