Ascentric adds new discretionary fund managers to platform
Ascentric has added 12 discretionary fund managers to its platform over the last six months.
The platform now offers advisers 22 different DFMs to choose from and expects this number to grow even further in the next few months.
It forecast it could have as many as 30 on the platform by the end of the year and continue to increase as the RDR draws near.
The new DFMs include Quilter, Bestinvest, London & Capital, SCM Private and JO Hambro Investment Management.
Around 10 per cent of Ascentric’s assets under administration are now managed by DFMs.
The growth reflects a trend among advisers to de-risk the decision-making process for investments and outsource their investment solutions instead.
Dominic Ventham, head of marketing at Ascentric, says that DFMs have been evolving their propositions to best reflect the needs of advisers
He said: “The trend initially saw advisers pick their own stocks, this then moved on to the creation of models using our Model Portfolio functionality while now more firms are fully outsourcing this aspect of the advice process to a DFM.
“Such a high number of DFMs reinforces the notion that one size certainly doesn’t fit all when it comes to ensuring the suitability of advice and that access to a wide range of solutions is vital when using a platform.”