Twenty six of the UK’s investment platforms have signed up to a new Transfers Charter, committing to standards for speed, efficiency and transparency of investment transfers.
The agreement commits its members to taking direct, measurable action to improve customer outcomes, increase operational efficiency and enhance transparency throughout the transfer journey.
The Charter was developed by platform providers and The Platforms Association with legal firm Osborne Clarke.
Platform signatories include: Aberdeen Adviser, Aegon, Allfunds, Aviva, Benchmark, Clearstream, Fidelity International, FNZ, Hargreaves Lansdown, M&G Platform, Morningstar Wealth Platform, Novia Global Ltd, Nucleus Financial, P1 Platform, Platform One, Quilter, Scottish Widows (Embark), SECCL, SEI, Seven Investment Management, SS&C Platform Solutions, Transact, True Potential, Vanguard Asset Management, Wealthtime, WBS Solutions Ltd.
Technology providers also signed the Charter, including:
- Calastone
- Equisoft
- GBST
- Origo
The Charter was developed in line with the FCA’s challenge to improve consumer outcomes by making investment transfers faster, clearer and more consistent.
The Platforms Association said will maintain close engagement with regulators to ensure alignment, transparency and effective coordination as the programme progresses.
The regulator welcomed the Charter.
Kate Tuckley, head of department consumer investments supervision at The Financial Conduct Authority, said: “We have challenged firms on significantly improving consumer outcomes when it comes to investment transfers and are pleased to see so many committing themselves to doing so. We will continue our engagement with the sector to drive the change required.”
Osborne Clarke said the focus of the Charter now shifts from commitment to delivery, with a programme of work underway to drive measurable improvements and track progress against agreed milestones.
The programme will focus on:
Monitoring delivery and progress against Charter commitments, with the first milestone targeted for December, focused on eliminating paper-based documents and cheques, where operationally feasible;
Improving transparency and communication during transfers, reducing the need for customers and advisers to chase progress updates;
Addressing Non-Standard Assets (NSAs) by clarifying their classification and standardising their transfer processes to reduce friction;
Supporting more efficient adviser-led bulk transfers through the roll out of an industry framework, which will facilitate transparency and planning;
Analysing simple and complex transfers to enable more standardised and effective processing across platforms;
Rationalising the use of standard transfer forms to simplify and improve platform-to-platform interactions.
Keith Phillips, CEO of The Platforms Association, said: "The response from industry shows a real commitment to change and confirms that improving transfers is a shared priority.
“The Charter is turning that commitment into action – cohering the sector around delivery, progress tracking and collective working. As a living document, it will continue to evolve, to keep driving a transfer process that works better for everyone: customers, advisers and firms."
The Transfers Charter presently applies to ISA, pension and general investment account transfers between platforms.
Firms will report against common metrics including transfer times and rejection rates.