Platforms are growing at an accelerated pace, with growth projections putting assets under administration at £205bn by 2012. In this exciting market, a recent survey by Defaqto shows Standard Life is leading the pack.

Defaqto’s Investment Services Report 2008, the third report on service in the UK investment market, rated Standard Life Wrap as the platform with the highest satisfaction level in the industry. Defaqto’s platforms satisfaction index, covering 500 investment advisers, identified Standard Life Wrap as the clear favourite with a satisfaction score of 93%. FundZone, Standard Life’s fund supermarket came fourth in the supermarket satisfaction index with a score of 84%.

The survey looked at provider administration, image and reputation, commission administration, reporting, product design and management and e-business.

Standard Life’s strength in wider market recognised by Defaqto
Defaqto also awarded Standard Life Bond, International Bond and SIPP high ratings, further adding weight to the strength of Standard’s range. To achieve a rating, each product is scored against a set of features and benefits as above, and where appropriate, include elements of costs.

Platforms continue to build momentum
Figures from Defaqto show that more that 23% of advisers now write over 80% of their investment business through platforms, up from 18% last year. As Platforms continue to grow in popularity, Standard life are leading the way, with the clear advantages that dealing online brings to both advisers and their clients.

Findings from the 2007 Datamonitor survey on Fund Supermarkets in the UK support the findings from the recent Defaqto survey on the growth in use of platforms. Datamonitor found that the UK savings and investments market has grown at a compound annual rate of 10.9% between 2002 and 2006. The writing of new business in unit trusts and OEICs was the fastest growing sector of the UK investment market between 2002 to 2006, seeing compound annual growth of almost 20%.

As more advisers turn to platforms for efficiency and costs, Standard Life will continue to work closely with advisers in developing our market leading platforms propositions.

No guarantees are given regarding the effectiveness of any arrangements entered into on the basis of these comments.