Scottish Widows has announced a range of platform updates as part of a £180m three-year investment in enhanced functionality and service to help deliver better outcomes for advisers and their clients.
Drawing on feedback from its adviser base, coupled with market insight, enhancements since the start of the year include:
• Managed growth funds: A new set of five managed funds with different levels of risk and potential reward, designed to deliver growth by investing in a mix of assets to help clients achieve their retirement and investment goals.
• Dripfeed drawdown (DFD): A new digital functionality, DFD helps clients take a regular income from their pension in a flexible and tax efficient way.
• Streamlined platform charges and information: The ongoing platform charge is now explained with charging tiers rather than a combined percentage rate to provide clarity to advisers. Any cash held outside a model portfolio will also no longer be subject to the ongoing platform charge, providing better value for clients.
• Platform user experience improvements: Including model portfolio transactions, a refreshed customer dashboard, easier to schedule withdrawals and enhanced validation and supportive messaging on transactional journeys.
Other updates to the platform have been delivered via new integrations with partner tools, including Oxford Risk’s Investor Compass, an end-to-end investment suitability software tool.
Future updates to the platform will aim to make it easier for advisers to do business, enhance client relationships and navigate upcoming regulatory change. Specific updates will also include the introduction of a new multi-asset fund range, smoothed funds, and the development of an onshore bond.
Graeme Bold, managing director of workplace and intermediary wealth, Scottish Widows, said: “Our continued investment makes the Scottish Widows platform impossible to ignore. We’ve introduced a raft of changes since the start of the year with even more planned for H2. We’re driven by our commitment to invest for the long term so that advisers can have confidence in working with us to support their clients and build their businesses.
“Working with and listening to advisers, we’re putting the user experience at the heart of everything we do, and we aim to deliver with practical solutions to make a real difference.
“Access to financial advice has never been more important, and we want to play our part as a partner to advisers, with a scaled platform that not only simplifies the day-to-day but also helps advisers deliver great client outcomes.
“Backed by the scale, stability and long-standing heritage of Lloyds Banking Group, we’re in a unique position to invest with confidence and ambition and ambition – and in terms of potential, we’re just getting started.”
