Employee benefit and wealth management firm Isio has launched a new Model Portfolio Service (MPS) with criticism of existing players in the market.

The new service has been available in-house since April but is now being offered externally. The range includes seven 'low-cost' outsourced investment portfolios.

The firm says it has launched its MPS into a landscape it believes is "cluttered" with solutions that are overly diversified with no conviction, priced expensively in a way that drags on performance, and lacking in clarity with an over reliance on active management.

Isio says it will selectively employ active management only in areas where there is evidence it has consistently proven to add value.

Isio’s seven portfolios include five multi-asset portfolio ranging from ‘Cautious’ to Adventurous’, as well as an equity focused portfolio and an income focused portfolio. Isio will charge an annual management charge of 0.15%, with total costs estimated to be in the region of 0.3% to 0.45%.

Isio is a provider of a range of financial services including employee benefits, wealth advice, actuarial and consulting services and investment advice. It has a national team of 1,200 people working in 10 UK offices. Isio was founded in early 2020 as a spin out of KPMG’s UK pensions and investment practice. It acquired Premier Pensions in 2022 and Deloitte’s UK pension and investment business in 2023.

Isio’s MPS is available on a range of adviser platforms and has been risk mapped by Dynamic Planner and Defaqto. It is live on Mabel Insights, FE Analytics and Morningstar.

The MPS will use Isio's experience in advising on over £300bn worth of institutional investor assets.

The firm says it has also made a number of appointments designed to support its wealth business including: 

• Chris Woodhouse, chair at Isio (and former CEO of Evelyn Partners)
• Andy Tunningley, head of wealth at Isio (and former head of UK strategic clients at BlackRock)
• Mike Hanlon, head of distribution for wealth at Isio (and former head of business development at Evelyn Partners)

Ajith Nair, head of portfolio management and research at Isio, said: “We are excited to launch a model portfolio service which channels our institutional innovation and quality in constructing portfolios to provide access to the best managers and funds at fees leveraging our buying power in the pension’s world."