IW Long Reads: Up in the clouds? How vertically integrated firms are shaping up in 2021

Are wealth managers offering financial advice going to become the norm?

We were less than two weeks into 2021 when Fidelity International became the latest fund group to start offering financial advice and another vertically integrated enterprise was born. Called Fidelity Wealth Management, the proposition joins the likes of Standard Life, Aviva, Foster Denovo, Tavistock, Quilter and St. James's Place. The benefits of encompassing advice, platform, and investments under one roof makes sense on paper but, with the uncertainties of a recession, what could 2021 hold for these firms with many of which have struggled to achieve profitability in past years? "I...