AXA Wealth Elevate, AXA's platform arm, has expressed concern that some platforms will bulk transfer client holdings into clean share class versions of funds and believes the move could risk leaving customers disadvantaged.

David Thompson, managing director, Elevate, AXA Wealth, said: "We believe that platform wide conversions would not always be in the best interest of all customers. There are still cost differences between retail and clean share classes which could result in an increased cost for clients. Some fund groups are also yet to launch a clean share class for certain funds.

"Following the publication of the PS13/1 platform paper we did look closely and considered automatically converting assets on Elevate from retail to equivalent clean share classes. However, once the FCA clarified its position on the continuation of cash rebates it became clear it was not a regulatory requirement. The decision to force conversion appears at odds with the clarification from the regulator that the rebate to clients on legacy assets can continue and it is unclear where the authority for platforms to force this move comes from.

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"Instead, our approach has been to introduce a comprehensive clean share class offer with the introduction of over 2,500 clean share class funds. This provides advisers with the flexibility to choose the most appropriate share class for their clients.

"For Isa and pension tax wrappers remaining in retail funds could well be the most cost effective solution for existing investments. Elevate provides the functionality to allow advisers to transition their clients to clean share classes, keeping them in control of this process. We will shortly be releasing additional share class comparison tools to help advisers choose the most appropriate share class.

"We think putting control in the hands of advisers is the best way to address the issue of moving assets into the new clean share classes."

AXA Wealth is a corporate member of the IFP.